SD 


"Bluing"  and  the  "Red  Rot" 
of  the  Western  Yellow  Pine, 
withSpecial  Reference  to  the 
Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve 

Plant  Industry, Bull. 36 


IRLF 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 
BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY— BULLETIN  NO.  36. 

B.  T.  GALLOWAY,  Chief  of  Bureau. 


THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  WESTERN 

YELLOW  PINE,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO 

THE  BLACK  HILLS  FOREST  RESERVE. 


HERMANN  VON  SCHRENK, 

SPECIAL  AGENT  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 
LABORATORY, 

VEGETABLE  PATHOLOGICAL  AND  PHYSIOLOGICAL  INVESTIGATIONS. 


ISSUED  MAY  5,  1903. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE. 

1903. 


BUREAU  OF  FLAM   INDUSTRY. 

B.  T.  GALLOWAY.  (Mef. 
YKGKTAKLK    PATHOLOGICAL  AND  .  PI  I  YSK  >L<  M  ;  K  'AL   1NVKSTH  i  A  TI<  >XS. 


Al.llERT    I''.    AVoODS.    ratlioloifiC  anil   I'hi/xiolot/iC. 

KRWIX   F.  SMITH,  I'atholoijiC  in  <  '/mr</>>  <>f  Laltoratorij  <>j  '  /'/(nit  Pathology. 

GEOK<;K  T.  ^fooKE,  Physioloyixt  in.  Ch<ii-(/<'  of  L>tl>or<if<>,4!/  of  I'l/int  Physiology. 

HERBERT  J.  WEBBER,  Physiologist  in  (.'limye  of  Laboratory  of  Plant  Hivediinj'. 

XEWTOX  B.  PIERCE,  Pathologist  -in  Charge  of  Pacific  Coast  Laborator;/. 

HERMANN  vox  SCIIRENK,  Special  A  </<nt  in  Ch&rgeofMiwissijppi  V<ill<:ii  J,«l»n-<tt<n-/i. 

P.  H.  ROLFS,  Pathologist  in  Charge  of  $ub-  Tropical  Laboratory. 

M.  li.  AVAITE,  Pathologist  in  ('h<ir</>'  of  Imrxt'ignl'inn*  of  Dixetixrx  of  <_>,•<•!,</,•</  Fruit*. 

MARK  A.  TAKLETOX,  Cerealist. 

WALTER  T.  SWINGLE,  Phii*iolngixt  in.  Ch&rge  of  L[f<  .HiCn,-;i  Znw&gajkivns. 

('.  <  ).  TOWXSEXD,  Pallioloyixi. 

P.  H.  DORSETT,  Pathologic. 

T.  H.  KEARNEY,  PJiysiolof/i*t,  Plant  Hfi'i'dimj. 

CORXELH'S    L.   SlIEAR,   AxxiCant   I'nfJiolotjiC. 

WILLIAM  A.  ORTON,  .Axxidint  I'atlio/ogixf. 

FLORA  W.  PATTERSON',  MycologiC. 

JOSEPH  S.  CHAMBERLAIN,  Expert  in.  Physiofoaical  Clu-iiiiCr;/. 

K.  I-!.  I'..  McKi-NXKY.  Expert. 

CHARLES  P.  HARTLEY,  Assistant  in  Physiologi/,  riant  Breeding. 

I)EANE  B.  SWINGLE,  A**iCant  in  Patliology. 

JAMES  B.  RORER,  A*xi4ant  '.in  Pathology.    , 

LLOYD  S.  TEXXY,  Assistant  in  Pathology. 

JESSE  B.  NORTON,  Assistant  in  Physiology,  Plant 

A.  \\r.  IU)HON,  Scientific  Assistant,  Plant  Breeding. 

KARL  F.  KELLERMAX.  A^ic.unt  in  Physiology. 

(  ;I:OI;I-K  (  i.  HEDGCOCK,  Assistant  in  Patholog;/. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry.  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture . 


Plate  I. 


CROSS  SECTION  OFA  DYINGTREE  OFTHE  BULL  PINE, SHOWING  BLUE  COLOR. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY— BULLETIN  NO.  36. 

B.  T.  GALLOWAY,  Chief  of  Bureau. 


THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  WESTERN 

YELLOW  PINE,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO 

THE  BLACK  HILLS  FOREST  RESERVE. 


BY 


HERMANN  VON  SCHRENK, 
'/ 

SPECIAL  AGENT  IN  CHABGE  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 
LABORATORY, 

VEGETABLE  PATHOLOGICAL  AND  PHYSIOLOGICAL  INVESTIGATIONS. 


ISSUED  MAY  5,  1903. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1903. 


<\ 


\ 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  December  %h  1902. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  technical  paper  on 
The  " Bluing"  and  the  "Red  Rot"  of  the  Western  Yellow  Pine,  with 
Special  Reference  to  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve,  and  respectfully 
recommend  that  it  be  published  as  Bulletin  No.  36  of  the  series  of  this 
Bureau. 

This  paper  was  prepared  by  Dr.  Hermann  von  Schrenk,  Special 
Agent  of  this  Bureau  in  Charge  of  Timber  Rot  Investigations,  a  line 
of  work  being  conducted  jointly  by  this  Bureau  and  the  Bureau  of 
Forestry,  and  it  was  submitted  by  the  Pathologist  and  Physiologist 
with  a  view  to  publication. 

The  illustrations,  which  comprise  14  full-page  plates,  several  of 
which  are  colored,  are  considered  necessary  to  a  full  understanding  of 
the  text. 

Respectfully, 

B.  T.  GALLOWAY, 

Chief  of  Bureau. 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


PREFACE. 


The  report  submitted  herewith,  entitled  The  " Bluing"  and  the 
"Red  Rot"  of  the  Western  Yellow  Pine,  with  Special  Reference  to  the 
Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve,  covers  in  part  an  investigation  under- 
taken by  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  in  cooperation  with  the  Bureau 
of  Forestry  in  the  broad  field  of  the  diseases  of  forest  trees  and  the 
means  of  controlling  them,  as  well  as  the  causes  of  and  methods  of 
preventing  the  decay  of  all  kinds  of  timber,  especially  that  valuable 
for  construction  purposes.  At  the  present  time  an  immense  quantity 
of  dead  and  dying  timber  of  the  bull  pine  is  standing  in  the  Black 
Hills  Forest  Reserve,  South  Dakota.  The  amount  has  been  variously 
estimated,  but  will  probably  approach  600,000,000  feet.  The  death  of 
the  trees  was  caused  by  the  pine-destroying  beetle  of  the  Black  Hills, 
as  shown  by  investigations  conducted  by  the  Division  of  Entomology 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. a  Following  attack 
by  the  beetles  the  wood  of  the  tree  is  invaded  by  various  fungi,  one  of 
which  causes  the  blue  coloration  of  the  wood.  Dr.  von  Schrenk  has 
demonstrated,  however,  that  the  fungus  which  causes  the  bluing  does 
not  injure  the  strength  of  the  wood. 

The  rapid  decay  or  "red  rot"  of  the  timber  is  caused  by  another 
fungus,  and  its  ravages  can  be  forestalled  by  a  proper  use  of  the 
wood.  A  series  of  recommendations  is  made,  which,  if  followed,  will 
result  in  the  saving  of  a  very  large  part  of  the  dead  wood. 

ALBERT  F.  WOODS, 
Pathologist  and  Physiologist. 

OFFICE  OF  THE  PATHOLOGIST  AND  PHYSIOLOGIST, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  December  <23 ,  190%. 

«Bull.  32,  n.  s.,  Division  of  Entomology,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1902. 

5 


CONTENTS, 


Page. 

Introduction 9 

Death  of  the  trees 9 

When  are  the  trees  dead 11 

The  ''blue"  wood 11 

Rate  of  growth  of  the  blue  color 11 

Nature  of  the  "blue"  wood 12 

Strength  of  the  "blue "  timber 13 

Lasting  power  of  the  "blue"  wood 14 

The  "blue"  fungus 15 

Effect  of  ' '  blue ' '  fungus  on  the  toughness  of  the  ' '  blue ' '  wood 20 

Relation  of  the  ' '  blue  "  fungus  infection  to  the  beetle  holes 20 

Fruiting  organs  of  the  "blue"  fungus 22 

Growth  in  artificial  media 23 

Dissemination  of  the  spores 24 

The  blue  color 24 

Summary 26 

Decay  of  the  "blue"  wood 26 

The  "red  rot"  of  the  western  yellow  pine 27 

Cause  of  the  "red  rot" 27 

Conditions  favoring  the  development  of  the  ' '  red-rot ' '  fungus 28 

Final  stages  and  fruiting  organs 28 

Rate  of  growth  of  "red  rot " 30 

Amount  of  diseased  timber 31 

Possible  disposal  of  the  dead  wood 32 

In  the  Black  Hills 32 

In  the  remaining  parts  of  South  Dakota 33 

Value  of  the  dead  wood 33 

Inspection 33 

Recommendations 34 

Description  of  plates 38 

7 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 
PLATE  I.  Cross  section  of  the  trunk  of  a  dying  tree  of  the  western  yellow  or 

bull  pine,  showing  blue  color Frontispiece. 

]I.  Dying  trees  of  the  bull  pine.      Fig.  1. — Green,  "sorrel-top,"  and 

' '  red-top ' '  trees.     Fig.  2.  —Green  and  ' '  sorrel-top ' '  trees 40 

III.  Color  change  in  leaves  of  the  bull  pine.     1.  Leaves  from  healthy 

tree.     2.  Leaves  from  "sorrel-top"  tree.     3  and  4.  Leaves  from 
trees  turning  to  the  "red-top"  stage 40 

IV.  Fig.  1. — "Red-top"  tree  in  a  group  of  healthy  trees  near  Elmore, 

S.Dak.     Fig.  2.— "Black-top"  trees 40 

V.  Figs.  1  and  2. — Sections  of  trunks  of  the  bull  pine,  showing  early 

stages  of  "blue  disease " 40 

VI.  "Blue"  sections  from  dead  trees.     Fig.  1. — Sections  from  tree  dead 

five  months.  Fig.  2. — Sections  from  tree  dead  eighteen  months  . .  40 
VII.  Mycelium  and  fruiting  bodies  of  the  "blue"  and  "red-rot"  fungi. 
1.  Tangential  section  of  "blue ' '  wood.  2.  Cross  section  of  ' '  blue' ' 
wood.  3.  Cross  section  of  a  medullary  ray.  4.  Young  perithecium 
of  the  ' '  blue ' '  fungus.  5.  Mature  perithecia  of  the  "  blue  "  fungus. 
6.  Two  perithecia  of  the  "blue"  fungus.  7.  Two  asci  with  spores 
of  the  "blue"  fungus.  8.  Spores  of  the  "blue"  fungus.  9.  Top 
of  beak  of  perithecium  of  Ceratostomella  pilifera  just  after  the  dis- 
charge of  the  spore  mass.  10  and  11.  Median  sections  of  sporo- 

phores  of  the  ' '  red-rot ' '  fungus 40 

VIII.  Sections  of  "blue"  wood.     Fig.  1.— Radial  section.     Fig.  2.— Tan- 
gential section 

IX.  Pieces  of  wood  from  the  bull  pine,  showing  blue  fungus  starting 

from  holes  made  by  a  wood-boring  beetle 40 

X.  Sections  showing  early  stages  of  the  "red  rot."  Fig.  1. — Section 
taken  35  feet  from  the  ground  from  a  dead  tree.  Fig.  2. — Section 
showing  more  advanced  stage  of  decay.  Fig.  3. — Section  from  tree 

shown  in  fig.  2,  made  15  feet  higher  up 40 

XI.  Sections  from  "black-top"  bull  pines,  showing  advanced  stages  of 
decay.     Figs.  1  and  2. — Sections  from  the  top  of  a  fallen  tree.     Fig. 

3. — Section  from  a  standing  pine  4  feet  from  the  ground 40 

XII.  Group  of  broken  "  black-top"  trees 40 

XIII.  Fig.  1.— Top  of  "black  top"  broken  off.     Fig.  2,—Polyporus  pon- 

derosus  growing  on  dead  pine  stump 40 

XIV.  Sections  of  rejected  cross-ties.     Fig.  1. — Wood  affected  with  "red 

rot."     Fig.  2. — Diseased  wood  from  living  tree 40 

8 


B.  P.  I.— 46.  V.  P.  P.  I.— 100. 

mHE  " BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  WEST- 
ERN YELLOW  PINE,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO 
THE  BLACK  HILLS  FOREST  RESERVE. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  present  investigation  was  undertaken  to  determine — 

(1)  The  cause  of  the  blue  color  of  the  dead  wood  of  the  western 
yellow  pine,  commonly  known  as  the  bull  pine  (Pinus ponderosd),  and 
the  effect  of  the  coloring  on  the  value  of  the  wood. 

(2)  The  reason  for  the  subsequent  decay  of  the  wood,  the  rate  of 
decay,  and  whether  the  decay  could  be  prevented. 

(3)  Whether  it  would  be  possible  to  use  the  dead  wood  before  it 
decayed;  first,  to  reduce  the  fire  danger;  second,  to  prevent  the  decay 
and  thereby  save  an  immense  quantity  of  timber. 

DEATH  OF  THE  TREES. 

The  physiological  changes  which  take  place  in  the  bull  pine  (Pinus 
ponderosa)  as  a  result  of  the  attack  of  the  pine-bark  beetle  (Dendroc- 
tonus  ponderosse  Hopk/')  are  intimately  connected  with  the  fungus 
diseases  under  consideration,  and  may  therefore  be  referred  to  briefty. 

According  to  Hopkins,  the  beetles  enter  the  bark  of  the  living  trees 
in  July,  August,  and  September.  The  primary  longitudinal  burrows  or 
galleries  are  excavated  by  the  adult  beetles,  and  the  transverse,  broad, 
or  larval  mines  (Bull.  32,  n.  s.,  Division  of  Entomology,  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Pis.  I  and  III  and  fig.  1)  through  the  inner  bark 
and  cambium  of  the  main  trunk  have  the  effect  of  completely  girdling 
the  tree,  and  by  September  the  cambium  and  the  bark  on  the  lower 
portion  of  the  trunk  are  dead.  The  foliage  of  the  trees  thus  attacked, 
however,  shows  no  change  from  the  normal  healthy  green  until  the 
following  spring,  when  the  leaves  begin  to  fade. 

The  first  signs  of  disease  noticeable  in  an  affected  tree  are  visible  in 
the  spring  of  the  year  following  that  of  the  attack  by  the  beetle.  Here 

a  Hopkins,  A.  D.  Insect  Enemies  of  the  Pine  in  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve. 
Bull.  32,  n.  s.,  Division  of  Entomology,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  pp.  9, 10. 

9 


10   THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

and  there  one  will  find  the  needles  of  affected  trees  turning  yellowish. 
The  bright  green  fades  almost  imperceptibly,  starting  near  the  tip  of 
the  needle.  The  needles  first  affected  are  those  on  the  lowest  branches 
(PL  II),  and  on  these  branches  the  discolored  leaves  will  be  more  or 
less  scattered.  By  the  end  of  May  most  of  the  leaves  on  an  affected 
tree  will  be  pale  green  or  yellowish.  (PL  II;  PL  III,  2.)  This  yellow 
color  increases  in  intensit}T  during  the  summer  and  makes  the  affected 
trees  a  conspicuous  mark  among  the  healthy  green  trees.  Trees  in  this 
stage  are  locally  known  as  "sorrel  tops"  or  "yellow  tops."  When 
standing  on  a  hillside,  groups  of  "sorrel  tops"  can  be  easily  detected  at 
a  distance  of  several  miles.  It  is  rather  a  difficult  matter  to  show  the 
contrast  in  a  photograph.  The  middle  tree  on  PL  II,  fig.  1,  shows  the 
contrast  with  the  green  trees  on  the  left  to  some  extent. 

The  yellow  needles  are  drier  than  the  green  ones  and  show  a  marked 
disintegration  of  the  chlorophyll.  As  they  continue  to  diy  the  color 
changes  gradually  through  various  intermediate  stages  (PL  III,  3)  to 
a  reddish  brown.  This  color  (PL  III,  4)  becomes  very  marked  after 
the  trees  have  passed  through  the  second  winter.  The  needles  are 
then  dry  and  they  begin  to  fall  off.  Such  trees  are  known  as  "red 
tops."  (See  PL  II,  fig.  1;  PL  IV,  fig.  1.)  The  leaves  finally  fall  off 
completely,  leaving  the  branches  bare.  Such  trees  without  any  leaves 
are  known  as  "black  tops."  (PL  IV,  fig.  2.)  The  group  of  trees  on 
PL  II,  fig.  1,  shows  the  green  trees  and  the  "sorrel  tops"  and  "red 
tops"  (rapidly  becoming  "black")  side  by  side. 

To  summarize  the  foregoing:  One  finds  the  living  trees  attacked  in 
July  and  August;  the  following  spring  the  leaves  turn  }^ellow  ("sorrel 
tops")  and  gradually  red  ("red  tops"),  and  the  third  year  they  drop 
off  altogether  ("black  tops").  It  is  a  difficult  matter  to  say  at  what 
point  the  trees  are  dead.  Girdled  trees  die  with  different  degrees  of 
rapidity,  depending  upon  the  species.  The  black  gum  (Nyssa  sylvatica) 
will  live — i.  e.,  will  have  green  leaves — for  two  years  after  being  gir- 
dled; so  also  several  species  of  oak.  Pines  and  spruces  rarely  live 
more  than  a  year,  and  generally  not  so  long. 

The  reason  for  the  different  behavior  of  these  trees  is  probably  to 
be  found  in  the  different  power  to  conduct  water  through  the  inner 
sapwood.  The  subject  is  one  about  which  little  is  known  as  yet.  In 
the  case  of  the  bull  pine,  after  the  girdling  by  the  beetles  certain 
changes  take  place  in  the  cambium  and  the  newer  sapwood  which 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  death  of  those  parts.  By  September,  as 
described  below,  the  cambium  and  bark  are  actually  dead  and  par- 
tially decayed  for  30  feet  or  more  from  the  ground.  The  leaves  are 
still  green  and  full  of  water  the  following  spring.  The  only  way  in 
which  this  can  be  accounted  for  is  by  assuming  that  sufficient  water 
passes  through  the  inner  sapwood  to  keep  the  crown  of  the  tree 
supplied 


THE  "BLUE"  WOOD.  11 

WHEN    ARE    THE    TREES    DEAD? 

The  question  as  to  when  a  tree  is  dead  is  one  of  considerable  prac- 
tical importance  in  determining  which  trees  in  the  forest  should  be 
cut.  For  this  purpose  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  a  tree  may  be  pro- 
nounced dead  when  the  bark  is  loose  at  the  base  of  the  tree  for  con- 
siderable distances  up  the  trunk.  A  tree  with  its  bark  in  this  condi- 
tion can  not  possibly  recover.  The  wood  under  this  loose  bark  will 
always  be  found  to  be  dark  in  color  and  will  appear  covered  with 
shreds  of  bark  when  the  bark  is  pulled  off.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  such  trees  will  have  green  leaves.  The  criterion  of  green  or  yel- 
low leaves  is  not  a  safe  one  to  follow,  and  ought  not  to  be  considered 
in  making  specifications  for  cutting  dead  timber.  Attention  is  here 
called  to  the  recommendation  (4)  made  on  page  35. 

THE   "BLUE"  WOOD. 

Very  soor.  after  the  attack  of  the  bark  beetles  (Dendroctonus  pond- 
erosde)  the  wood  of  the  pine  turns  blue.  The  color  at  first  is  very 
faint,  but  it  soon  becomes  deeper.  A  cross  section  of  a  trunk  several 
months  after  the  beetle  attack  will  appear  much  as  shown  on  PL  V, 
fig.  1.  Lines  of  color  extend  in  from  the  bark  toward  the  center  of 
the  tree,  and  increase  rapidly-  in  intensity  until  the  colored  areas  stand 
in  sharp  contrast  to  the  unaffected  parts.  The  color  appears  in  small 
patches  at  one  or  more  points  on  the  circumference  of  the  wood  ring. 
At  first  it  is  a  mere  speck,  but  this  gradually  spreads  laterally  and 
inward,  eventually  forming  triangular  patches  on  cross  section.  The 
color  likewise  spreads  up  and  down  the  trunk  from  the  central  spot. 
As  the  time  passes  after  the  first  attack  of  the  beetles,  several  color 
patches  may  fuse.  Their  progress  laterally  and  upward  toward  the  cen- 
ter of  the  trunk  may  be  equally  rapid  on  all  sides  of  the  tree,  or  more 
rapid  on  one  side  than  on  another  (PL  V,  fig.  2).  The  intensity  of  the 
color  may  vary  considerably  on  the  two  sides  of  one  and  the  same  trunk. 
After  a  certain  period  of  time  the  whole  sapwood  will  have  a  beautiful 
light  blue-gray  color,  as  shown  on  PL  I.  The  wood  which  adjoins  the 
inner  line  of  the  "blue"  wood  is  of  a  brilliant  yellow  color,  which  con- 
trasts sharply  with  the  blue  outside  and  the  straw  yellow  of  the  heart- 
wood.  This  yellow  area  is  in  the  form  of  a  ring  of  more  or  less  irregular 
shape.  Sometimes  it  is  formed  of  one  annual  ring  very  sharply 
defined;  then,  again,  it  may  include  all  or  only  parts  of  several  annual 
rings.  As  the  wood  grows  older,  the  blue  color  becomes  deeper  and 
the  yellow  ring  more  sharply  defined. 

RATE  OF  GROWTH  OF  THE  BLUE  COLOR. 

The  first  signs  of  the  blue  color  are  usually  found  several  weeks  after 
the  attack  by  the  beetles  at  points  on  the  trunk  in  the  immediate 


"  "  " 


12      THE  "  BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT     OF  THE  PINE. 

vicinity  of  the  attack.  The  first  signs  of  the  blue  color  are  found  in 
the  base  of  the  trunk.  On  PL  VI,  fig.  1,  three  sections  of  a  tree  which 
was  attacked  the  latter  part  of  July,  1901,  are  shown.  The  sections 
were  cut  in  November,  1901,  at  points  5  feet,  16  feet,  and  36  feet  from 
the  ground.  The  sapwood  of  the  first  section,  5  feet  up,  is  entirely 
blued;  the  second  section,  16  feet  up,  is  blue  here  and  there;  while  the 
section  made  in  the  top,  36  feet  up,  is  without  a  particle  of  blue  color. 
Note  in  this  connection  that  the  sections  with  blue  color  show  the  cross 
sections  of  the  galleries  of  the  bark  beetles  {Dendroctonus  ponderosse)  in 
the  layer  formed  by  the  cambium  layer,  the  outer  wood,  and  the  inner 
bark.  The  sections  on  PL  VI,  fig.  1,  show  some  of  these  galleries  filled 
with  sawdust.  A  more  advanced  stage  is  shown  on  PL  VI,  fig.  2.  In 
this  tree  the  sapwood  is  blue  from  the  ground  up  into  the  extreme  top. 
The  smallest  section,  cut  from  the  tree  in  the  upper  part  of  the  crown, 
is  blue  with  the  exception  of  the  innermost  rings,  i.  e.,  the  beginning 
of  the  heartwood. 

The  blue  color  develops  very  rapidly  when  once  the  tree  is  attacked. 
Standing  trees  attacked  by  the  beetles  in  July,  1902,  showed  signs 
of  blue  color  in  three  weeks.  Three  months  after  the  attack  the 
sapwood  of  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk  is  usually  entirely  blue,  as 
shown  on  PL  I.  The  year  following  the  attack,  i.  e.,  when  the  trees 
have  reached  the  "sorrel-top"  stage,  the  bluing  has  reached  the  top, 
and  late  that  year,  when  the  "red-top"  stage  is  reached,  the  entire 
sapwood  is  blue  (PL  VI,  fig.  2). 

An  experiment  was  made  during  the  past  summer  to  see  whether 
the  blue  color  would  appear  in  trees  felled  before  being  attacked  by  the 
pine-bark  beetle.  It  may  be  said  at  this  point  that  they  did  "blue" 
just  as  the  standing  ones  did. 

NATURE    OF   THE    "  BLUE  "    WOOD. 

Some  weeks  after  the  attack  by  the  bark  beetles,  changes  take  place 
in  the  bark  and  the  newer  wood  which  ultimately  result  in  the  bark 
becoming  loose  and  separating  -from  the  tree.  When  the  first  flow  of 
resin  into  the  galleries  has  stopped,  the  air  enters  into  the  galleries,  and 
channels  of  communication  with  the  outside  are  established  through 
which  the  water  in  the  cambium  and  newer  wood  can  escape.  The 
result  of  this  is  that  a  moist  atmosphere  prevails  in  the  air  chambers, 
very  favorable  to  the  growth  of  fungi.  As  the  cambium  and  bark 
cells  lose  water  they  shrivel  and  break  from  one  another,  so  that  after 
a  few  months  the  bark  breaks  away  from  the  wood  proper.  On  the 
south  and  southwest  sides  of  the  trees  the  bark  dies  most  rapidly,  and 
here,  contrary  to  the  general  occurrence,  it  frequently  adheres  firmly 
to  the  tree.  On  the  shaded  sides  of  the  trunk  the  bark  becomes 
loosened,  as  described,  before  six  months  have  elapsed.  The  surface 
of  the  wood  is  moist,  very  dark  in  color,  and  feels  somewhat  clammy. 


THE  "BLUE"  WOOD.  13 

Numerous  white  strands  of  fungus  mycelium  make  their  appearance 
after  six  months  or  more.  As  the  wood  of  the  trunk  dries,  the  bark, 
loose  at  first,  tightens,  so  that  in  the  " black-top"  stage  it  adheres 
quite  firmly  to  the  trunk.  When  cut  into,  it  peels  off  in  large  sheets 
very  readily,  however. 

The  "  blue  "  wood  differs  very  little  from  the  sound  wood  in  general 
appearance,  except  its  color.  It  is  full  of  moisture  at  first,  but  loses 
this  rapidly,  so  that  in  two  years  after  the  beetle  attacks  the  wood 
it  may  be  almost  perfectly  seasoned,  even  when  completely  covered 
with  its  bark.  The  ' 4  blue "  wood  is  said  to  be  very  much  tougher 
than  the  green  wood,  so  much  so  that  the  tie  makers  in  the  Black 
Hills  can  be  induced  to  cut  wholly  blued  wood  only  with  difficulty. 
This  toughness  and  a  possible  reason  therefor  are  discussed  hereafter. 

STRENGTH    OF    THE    "BLUE"    TIMBER. 

Ever  since  its  first  appearance  there  has  been  considerable  discussion 
as  to  the  strength  and  durability  of  the  "blue"  timber  when  com- 
pared with  sound  timber.  It  was  universally  believed  that  it  would 
prove  very  much  inferior  in  both  respects.  A  test  was  made  in  the 
testing  laboratory  of  the  department  of  civil  engineering  of  Washing- 
ton University,  St.  Louis,05  to  determine  the  comparative  strength  of 
the  "blue"  and  the  healthy  timber.  Sections  of  tree  trunks  5  feet 
long  were  cut  from  trees  at  points  10  to  15  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
were  shipped  to  St.  Louis,  where  they  were  sawed  into  blocks  of  sev- 
eral sizes.  For  the  compression  tests,  blocks  2  by  2  by  4  inches  and 
3  by  3  by  6  inches  were  cut  and  planed  to  the  exact  dimensions,  or  as 
nearly  so  as  possible. 

For  the  cross-breaking  strength,  sticks  2  by  2  inches  by  4  feet,  and 
3  by  3  inches  by  4  feet  were  prepared.  The  blocks  for  these  tests  were 
kiln-dried  at  a  temperature  of  172°  F.  until  an  approximately  constant 
weight  was  reached.  It  was  found  that  completely  dried  blocks  would 
not  shear  at  all.  The  moisture  content  of  the  green  blocks  was  slightly 
higher  than  that  of  the  "blue"  blocks. 

Three  kinds  of  timber  were  used:  A — Green  timber;  B — "Blue"  tim- 
ber taken  from  "sorrel-top"  trees,  i.  e.,  trees  dead  about  one  year; 
C — "Blue"  timber  taken  from  "red  tops"  and  "black  tops"  (mostly 
the  latter),  i.  e.,  trees  dead  about  two  years. 

The  tests  were  made  with  the  machinery  described  by  Johnson 
in  early  reports6  of  the  Division  of  Forestry.  Every  block  was 
carefully  measured.  The  results,  reduced  to  the  average  crushing 
strength  and  the  average  cross-breaking  strength  per  square  inch,  are 

«  The  machinery  was  put  at  the  writer's  disposal  through  the  courtesy  of  Prof.  J.  L. 
Van  Ornum. 

&  Timber  Physics,  Bulls.  Nos.  6  and  8,  Division  of  Forestry,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture. 


14      THE  ''BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 


given  in  the  following  table.  The  number  of  pieces  used  for  each 
test  is  given  in  a  separate  column.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  heart- 
wood  pieces  were  kept  distinct  from  the  pieces  cut  from  the  sapwood. 

Compression  strength  in  pounds  per  square  inch. 


Kind  of  timber. 

Heart  wood. 

Sapwood. 

Number 
of  pieces 
tested. 

Average 
strength. 

Number 
of  pieces 
tested. 

Average 
strength. 

A.  Green  timber  

210 
190 
131 

Pounds. 
3,919.74 
3,  876.  44 
4,017.48 

1,675 
649 
770 

Pounds. 
5,  089.  98 
5,  130.  95 
5,  308.  32 

B.  "  Blue  "  timber,  1  year  old  , 

C.  "  Blue  "  timber,  2  years  old  

Cross-breaking  strength  in  pounds  per  square  inch. 


Kind  of  timber 

Heartwood. 

Sapwood. 

Number 
of  pieces 
tested. 

Average 
strength. 

Number 
of  pieces 
tested. 

Average 
strength. 

A.  Green  timber 

338 
317 
322 

Pounds. 
5,375.26 
5,  361.  17 
5,666 

553 
242 
272 

Pounds. 
5,  832.  66 
5,818.84 
6,  843.  31 

B.  "Blue"  timber,  1  vear  old  

C.  "  Blue"  timber,  2  years  old 

The  figures  given  in  this  table  show  that  the  "blue"  timber  is 
slightly  stronger,  both  when  compressed  endwise  and  when  broken 
crosswise.  This  result  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  "blue" 
wood  was  slightly  drier  than  the  green  wood  when  the  tests  were 
made.  It  is  scarcely  probable  that  the  presence  of  fungus  threads  in 
the  cells  of  the  wood  in  any  way  strengthens  the  fiber.  However 
that  may  be,  these  tests  show  beyond  doubt  that  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses the  "  blue  "  wood  is  as  strong  as  the  green  wood.  Under  the  con- 
ditions now  existing  in  the  Black  Hills  Forest,  the  "blue"  wood  is  cer- 
tainly very  much  stronger  than  the  green  wood.  It  is  in  effect  sea- 
soned timber.  The  trees  have  stood  in  the  most  favorable  position 
possible  for  drying,  with  thousands  of  holes  in  the  bark  made  by  the 
beetles  through  which  the  water  could  escape,  assisted  by  the  winds 
which  constantly  sweep  by  the  trunks.  Where  wood  is  used,  as  it 
unfortunately  is  in  these  days,  almost  immediately  after  it  is  cut  from 
the  forest,  the  "blue"  wood  is  certainly  as  good  so  far  as  its  strength 
is  concerned  as  the  green  wood,  and  ought  not  to  be  discriminated 
against  because  of  supposed  weakness. 

LASTING   POWER   OF   THE    "BLUE"   WOOD. 

The  wood  of  the  bull  pine  is  one  which  is  not  very  resistant  to 
decay-producing  fungi.  Under  ordinary  conditions,  such  as  are  found 


THE  "BLUE"  FUNGUS.  .      15 

in  the  State  of  Nebraska  outside  of  the  arid  belts  and  in  the  Black 
Hills,  the  wood  will  last  from  four  to  six  years  when  placed  in  the 
ground  in  the  form  of  a  cross-tie,  for  instance.  Dead  trees  may  stand 
in  the  forest  for  many  years  without  decaying,  especially  when  killed 
by  fire,  but  ordinarily  when  the  bark  remains  on  the  trees  they  begin 
to  decay  after  the  third  year. 

From  observations  made  on  the  "black-top"  trees  now  standing  in 
the  forest  it  would  seem  that  the  lasting  power  of  the  "blue"  wood 
would  be  very  small.  It  is  perhaps  not  fair  to  compare  these  trees 
with  sound  ones,  for  their  bark  is  full  of  holes,  giving  fungus  spores 
every  opportunity  to  enter,  as  described  below.  When  placed  in  the 
ground  this  wood  rots  very  fast,  if  one  can  draw  conclusions  from  the 
dead  tops  lying  around  in  the  forest.  There  is  every  reason  why  it 
should  rot  rapidly.  The  hyphge  of  the  "blue"  fungus  have  opened  pas- 
sageways for  the  rapid  entrance  of  water  and  for  other  fungi  in  almost 
every  medullary  ray.  Dried  wood  will  probably  last  a  long  while, 
especially  if  properly  piled,  so  as  to  allow  the  air  to  circulate  between 
the  separate  pieces.  When  sawed  and  split  for  cord-wood,  the  "blue" 
wood  should  keep  just  as  long  as  the  green  wood.  The  tendency  to  rapid 
decay  can  be  largely  done  away  with  by  treating  the  wood  with  some 
preservative.  Ties  were  cut  during  the  past  spring  from  green  timber 
and  from  dead  trees.  These  were  shipped  to  Somerville,  Tex.,  where 
they  were  impregnated  with  zinc  chloride.  These  ties  were  laid  in 
the  tracks  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad  and  are  now  under  observation. 
A  second  lot  of  ties  has  been  cut  during  the  past  summer  from  green 
trees  and  from  "sorrel  tops,"  "red  tops,"  and  "black  tops."  These 
will  be  treated  within  a  short  time  and  laid  in  the  track  of  a  Mexican 
railway  so  as  to  determine  the  relative  resistance  of  the  various  grades 
of  "blue"  timber  in  a  tropical  climate  as  compared  with  the  green  tim- 
ber. On  the  particular  road  chosen  for  this  experiment  the  life  of  very 
resistant  timbers  is  short. 

THE    "BLUE"  FUNGUS. 

The  blue  color  of  the  wood  is  due  to  the  growth  of  a  fungus  in 
the  wood  cells.  The  staining  of  wood  due  to  fungi  has  been  known 
for  many  years,  especially  the  form  known  as  4 '  green  wood "  (bois 
verdi).  In  Europe  this  green  coloration  attracted  the  attention  of 
foresters  and  investigators  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  a  number  of  descriptions  and  discussions  appeared  from  time  to 
time  (particularly  in  France),  in  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  account 
for  this  phenomenon.  A  green  dye  was  extracted  from  this  wood, 
which  at  one  time  was  thought  to  be  valuable  because  of  its  absolute 
permanency.  Various  dicotyledonous  woods  showed  the  green  color; 
among  others,  beech,  oak,  and  horse-chestnut. 


16   THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

In  spite  of  numerous  investigations,  the  causes  of  the  green  color 
and  its  relation  to  the  wood  remained  comparatively  obscure  until 
recently,  when  Vuillemin  published  an  extended  account a  showing 
that  one  form  of  the  green  color  was  due  to  the  growth  in  the  wood 
of  one  of  the  Discomycetes,  Helotium  deruginoswn.  Vuillemin  men- 
tions a  number  of  other  fungi  which  have  been  described  as  causing 
the  green  color,  among  others,  Propolidium  atrocyaneum  Rehm,  on 
wood  of  the  poplar;  JVsevia  seruginosa  Rehm,  on  the  tansy;  and 
Fusarium  a&ruginosum  Delacroix,  on  potato  tubers. 

Without  going  into  details,  Vuillemin  established  the  fact  that  the 
green  coloring  matter,  called  X37lindeine,  is  formed  by  the  hyphse  of 
Helotium  xruginosum,  and  that  the  presence  of  these  green-colored 
hyphse  gives  the  green  color  to  the  wood.  The  wood  fiber  itself 
remains  colorless.  The  xylindeine  is  soluble  in  alkalis  and  can  readily 
be  extracted.  The  wood  fiber  is  not  destroyed,  but  remains  intact. 
The  name  "green  decay"  is  therefore  incorrectly  applied,  for  the 
green  wood  is  in  no  sense  decayed.  This  is  an  interesting  fact,  for  it 
will  be  remembered  that  the  same  has  been  said  of  the  "blue"  wood. 
A  more  detailed  comparison  of  the  relation  of  this  green  coloring  mat- 
ter and  the  fungus  forming  it  to  the  coloring  matter  in  the  "blue" 
wood  will  be  published  in  another  paper. 

The  blue  stain  of  coniferous  woods  is  a  familiar  defect  in  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  the  South,  where  freshly  sawed  lumber, 
especially  shingles  and  lath,  is  affected  during  the  moist  warm  weather 
of  April,  May,  and  June.  The  blued  lumber  is  considered  as  a  low- 
grade  material,  and  many  precautions  are  taken  by  Southern  manufac- 
turers to  prevent  loss.  A  full  account  of  this  trouble  and  a  discussion 
as  to  its  cause  and  methods  for  its  prevention  are  now  in  preparation. 

In  Europe  the  blue  color  of  pine  wood  was  first  noted  by  Hartig,6 
who  refers  briefly  to  the  fact  that  a  fungus  ( Ceratostoma  piliferum 
(Fr.)  Fuckel),  is  the  cause  of  bluing  in  coniferous  wood,  especially  of 
pine  trees  which  have  been  weakened  by  caterpillars,  and  of  firewood. 
He  states  that  the  hyphae  of  this  fungus,  which  are  brown,  grow  rap- 
idly inward  into  the  trunk  through  the  medullary  rays  and  that  they 
avoid  the  heartwood,  probably  because  of  its  small  water  content. 

The  blue  color  of  coniferous  wood  in  this  country  is  probably  caused 
by  the  same  fungus  referred  to  by  Hartig,  although  it  seems  necessary 
to  refer  to  it  under  a  different  name  (Ceratostomella  pilifera  (Fr.) 
Winter). 

«  Vuillemin,  Paul.  Le  Bois  Verdi.  ( Bull,  de  la  Soc.  d.  Sciences  de  Nancy,  Ser.  II, 
15:  90-145;  1898.  1  pi.)  References  to  earlier  works  on  the  green  color  are  given 
in  this  paper. 

&  Hartig,  Robert.  Lehrbuch  der  Pflanzenkrankheiten,  1900,  pp.  75  and  106.  (See 
also  earlier  editions  of  the  Lehrbuch  fur  Baumkrankheiten;  see  also  Frank,  A.  B., 
Krankheiten  der  Pflanzen,  1:  107,  1895.) 


THE   "BLUE"  FUNGUS.  17 

CERATOSTOMELLA  PILIFERA  (Fr. )  Winter. 

Splitvria  pilifera  Fr.     Systema  Mye.,  2:  472,  1830;  Berkeley,  Grevillea,  4: 

146, 1876. 

Sphferia  rostrata  Schum.     Enum.  Fl.  Sae.,  2:  128. 
Ceratostoma  piliferum  (Fr. )  Fuckel.     Symb.  Myc.,  p.  128;  Ellis  &  Everhart, 

N.  A.  Pyrenomycetes,  p.  193. 
Ceratostomella  pilifera  (Fr. )  Winter.     Rabenhorst's  Kryptoganienflora,  etc., 

1,  Pt.  II:  252, 1887;  Engler  &  Prantl,  Nat.  Pflanzenfam. ,  Pt.  I,  Abt.  1 :  406; 

fig.  259. 

The  ''blue"  fungus  was  first  described  by  Fries,  who  placed  it  in  the 
genus  Sphderia.  Later  it  was  placed  in  a  new  genus  (Ceratostoma}  by 
Fuckel,  and  remained  in  this  genus  until  recently,  when  Winter  in 
his  revision  of  the  family  Ceratostomese  put  the  fungus  in  the  genus 
Ceratostomella.a  This  genus  is  characterized  as  "perithecia  more  or 
less  superficial,  or  immersed  (sometimes  only  for  a  short  time),  gener- 
ally tough,  leather}7-,  or  carbonaceous,  with  marked,  generally  well- 
developed  beak.  Spores  variable,  typically  unicellular,  hyaline. 
Species  mostly  on  wood."  The  genus  Ceratostoma  differs  from  Cera- 
tostomella only  in  having  the  spores  brown  instead  of  hyaline.  This 
seems  a  very  weak  character  upon  which  to  separate  two  genera,  and 
Winter  realizes  this,  as  indicated  in  a  note  (p.  253),  where  he  says:  "I 
hesitate  to  accept  the  genus  Ceratostomella,  for  the  different  color  of 
the  spores  does  not  seem  to  be  sufficient  basis  for  a  genus.  I  do  it 
only  to  satisfy  generally  accepted  demands." 

As  the  present  investigation  is  not  materially  concerned  in  the  valid- 
ity of  any  particular  name,  the  writer  accepts  Winter's  name,  leaving 
the  question  of  whether  it  ought  to  be  Ceratostoma  or  Ceratostomella 
to  others. 

Ceratostomella  pilifera  occurs,  according  to  Winter,  on  coniferous 
woods,  mostly  on  pine  timber.  Winter  remarks  that  in  spite  of  the 
very  common  occurrence  of  this  species,  he  was  able  to  find  the  mature 
asci  but  once,  and  gives  a  figure  of  the  two  asei  he  saw.  This  is  borne 
out  by  the  findings  mentioned  hereafter.  Four  forms  of  C.  pilifera 
are  described,  which  are  probably  forms  modified  by  the  substratum 
on  which  they  grew,  and  of  less  interest  in  this  connection. 

The  fruiting  bodies  of  the  "blue  "  fungus  occur  in  thousands  on  blued 
logs  and  boards  in  favorable  seasons;  the  long  necks  of  the  perithecia 
when  looked  at  sideways  form  veritable  forests  on  a  board.  In  the 
pine  forests  of  the  Black  Hills  the  perithecia  are  to  be  found  on  decay- 
ing sticks,  in  the  cracks  formed  when  trees  or  branches  break  off,  and 
sometimes  under  the  loosened  bark  of  dead  trees.  It  is  a  strange  fact, 
however,  for  which  no  very  plausible  reason  can  as  yet  be  assigned, 
that  with  the  thousands  of  dead  and  "blue"  trees  now  in  that  forest 
the  asci  of  the  fungus  should  be  comparatively  so  rare. 

"Saccardo,  P.  A.     Michelia,  1:  370. 
16614— No.  36—02 2 


18   THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "BED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

The  growth  and  development  of  the  fungus  may  be  briefly  noted  as 
follows:"  The  spores  of  the  "blue"  fungus  (PL  VII,  8)  are  probably 
blown  about  by  the  wind  in  countless  thousands,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
beetle  attack  in  July  and  August  some  of  these  spores  lodge  in  the 
holes  made  in  the  bark  of  the  living  pine  tree  by  the  bark  and  wood- 
boring  beetles.  The  atmosphere  of  these  holes  is  constantly  kept 
moist  by  the  water  evaporating  from  the  trunk.  In  these  holes  the 
spores  can  germinate  within  a  day  after  falling  there. 

In  drop  cultures  of  pure  water  the  spores  germinate  readily  over- 
night. The  hyphre  grow  into  the  bark  tissues  and  into  the  cambium, 
and  from  there  they  enter  the  cells  of  the  medullary  rays.  The  readi- 
ness and  rapidity  with  which  the  hyphse  grow  into  the  medullary  rays 
lead  one  to  suspect  that  the  food  substances,  stored  in  the  medullary 
rays  at  this  period  of  the  year  in  considerable  quantities,  exert  a 
chemotropic  stimulus.  In  the  early  stages  of  development  one  finds 
the  hyphse  of  the  "blue "  fungus  only  in  the  medullary  ray  cells.  After 
a  hypha  has  entered  one  medullary  ray  cell  it  branches  and  spreads  to 
the"  neighboring  cells  (PL  VII,  l"  and  2;  PL  VIII,  figs.  1  and  2),  so 
that  in  a  very  short  time  the  entire  ray  is  filled  with  the  hyphae,  most 
of  which  grow  in  the  ray  toward  the  center  of  the  trunk.  Numerous 
starch  grains  are  usually  found  in  the  ray  cells  during  the  early  part 
of  August;  these  are  rapidly  dissolved  by  the  fungus  and  serve  as  a 
source  of  food  supply  for  a  considerable  period  of  time.  The  hyphae 
are  at  first  colorless,  very  thin-walled,  and  full  of  vacuoles  and  oil 
globules.  They  branch  rapidly,  forming  numerous  septa.  If  the 
starch  supply  is  abundant,  hyphre  several  microns  in  diameter  may  be 
formed  (PL  VII,  2).  These  are  constricted  at  the  septa  and  show  signs 
of  rapid  development.  The  older  hyphse  turn  brown,  and  with  the 
first  signs  of  the  brown  color  in  the  hypha?  the  bluish  coloration  of 
the  wood  begins.  One  of  the  first  effects  seen  after  the  hyphse  have 
entered  the  medullary  ray  cells  is  the  gradual  solution  of  the  walls 
separating  the  medullary  ray  cells  from  one  another  (PL  VII,  1,  2, 
and  3).  The  walls  which  separate  the  ray  cells  from  the  neighbor- 
ing wood  cells  may  become  very  thin,  as  shown  in  the  middle  ray 
(PL  VII,  1),  but  they  are  rarely  dissolved  entirely.  The  intermediate 
walls,  on  the  other  hand,  entirely  disappear.  This  leaves  a  tube  with 
a  cross  section  having  the  shape  of  the  cross  section  of  the  ray,  extend- 
ing into  the  trunk  from  the  bark.  This  tube  is  sometimes  filled 
entirely  with  a  mass  of  brown  hyphse,  the  larger  number  of  which 
extend  in  the  direction  of  the  ray  (PL  VIII,  figs.  1  and  2).  From  the 
ray  cells  some  h}Tpha3  make  their  way  into  adjacent  wood  cells  (PL  VII, 
2;  PL  VIII,  figs.  1  and  2).  They  grow  along  these,  both  up  and  down 

«  A  fuller  discussion  of  its  cultural  characteristics,  spore  germination,  and  the  blue 
color  will  l>e  printed  at  a  later  date. 


THE   '"BLUE"  FUNGUS.  19 

(PL  VII,  1),  giving  off  branches  to  other  wood  cells. a  In  this  manner 
the  whole  wood  body  becomes  penetrated  by  the  brown  hyphae  in  a 
very  short  time  after  the  first  infection.  The  number  of  hyphae  in  the 
wood  cells  proper,  i.  e.,  excluding  the  medullary  ray  cells  and  the 
cells  of  the  wood  parench}Tina,  is  very  small  indeed.  This  is  proba- 
bly due  to  the  fact  that  the  fungus  finds  scant  material  upon  which  to 
live  in  the  wood  cells.  The  hyphae  are  apparently  able  to  puncture 
the  unlignified  walls  here  and  there,  but  they  stop  at  that  point.  The 
writer  was  not  able  to  demonstrate  that  the  hyphae  could  attack  the 
lignified  walls.  In  other  words,  the  "  blue  "  fungus  is  one  which  confines 
its  attack  to  the  food  substances  contained  in  the  storing  cells  of  the 
trunk  and  to  the  slightly  lignified  walls  of  these  storing  cells.  The 
best  instance  of  the  resistance  which  the  lignified  walls  offer  to  the 
dissolving  action  of  the  hyphae  is  found  in  the  outer  walls  of  the  medul- 
lary rays,  which  are  composed  in  part  of  the  more  heavily  incrusted 
walls  of  the  adjacent  wood  fiber. 

The  resin  ducts  are  attacked  in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  medul- 
lary rays.  (PL  VII,  3;  PL  VIII,  fig.  2.)  The  walls  of  the  component 
cells  are  dissolved,  leaving  a  tube  filled  with  brown  hyphae.  When 
looked  at  with  a  low-power  magnifying  glass,  a  cross  section  of  the 
wood  shows  the  resin  ducts  as  black  spots  in  the  wood  ring. 

The  rate  at  which  the  hyphae  advance  in  the  medullary  rays  keeps 
them  considerably  in  advance  of  the  hyphae  in  the  wood  cells  and  also 
of  the  blue  color  which  follows  the  appearance  of  the  hyphae  in  the 
rays.  When  the  hyphae  have  reached  the  heartwood  they  cease  grow- 
ing inward.  One  reason  for  this  may  be  the  absence  of  food  materials 
in  the  rays  of  the  heartwood,  and  another  may  be  the  greater  lignifica- 
tion  of  the  heartwood  cells.  It  is  very  certain  that  the  hyphae  do  not 
flourish  in  the  heartwood,  neither  in  the  medullary  rays  and  resin  ducts 
nor  in  the  wood  cells  proper.  Hartig  ascribes  the  restriction  of  the 
fungus  to  the  sapwood  to  the  smaller  amount  of  water  in  the  heart- 
wood,  but  it  would  seem  to  the  writer  that  there  would  hardhr  be  so 
very  sharp  a  line  between  the  points  where  growth  does  take  place 
and  where  it  does  not,  if  it  were  a  matter  of  water  supply  alone. 
The  readiness  with  which  the  fungus  can  enter  heartwood  and  sapwood 
cells  and  the  presence  or  absence  of  food  substances  would  seem  to  be 
factors  of  more  importance  in  determining  the  regions  where  the 
fungus  could  or  would  not  grow. 

The  growth  in  the  medullary  rays  comes  to  a  stop  within  six  months 
after  the  first  infection,  and  perhaps  earlier.  This  applies  to  such 
wood  as  is  infected  in  July  or  August.  By  December  or  January  the 
whole  sapwood  will  be  filled  with  hyphse.  In  the  top  of  the  tree  the 

«  The  hyphse  growing  out  from  the  medullary  rays,  as  shown  in  PI.  VIII,  fig.  2, 
make  the  wood  cells  appear  septate.  This,  of  course,  is  not  the  case. 


20   THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "BED  EOT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

development  is  probably  very  similar,  although  it  was  not  possible  to 
make  an  accurate  determination  of  this  fact  because  of  the  great 
irregularity  in  the  rate  with  which  infection  takes  place  after  the 
beetle  attack.  The  rate  of  growth  in  the  trunk  varies  considerably. 
Some  trunks  are  invaded  on  all  sides  with  equal  rapidity;  some,  on  the 
other  hand,  seem  to  be  more  resistant  on  one  side  or  another.  A  good 
idea  as  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  fungus  can  usually  be  obtained 
by  observing  the  extent  of  the  blue  coloration,  to  which  reference  is 
made  below. 

EFFECT  OF  "BLUE"  FUNGUS  ON  THE  TOUGHNESS  OF  THE  "  BLUE  "  WOOD. 

On  page  13  it  was  stated  that  the  "blue"  wood  was  considered 
very  much  tougher  than  the  healthy  wood.  The  tie  cutters  in  the 
Black  Hills  find  that  it  is  very  much  harder  work  to  cut  cross-ties  from 
the  "black-top"  wood  than  from  green  trees — so  much  so  that  they 
demand  additional  pay  for  cutting  these  ties. 

When  split  with  an  ax,  the  two  halves  of  a  block  seem  to  hang 
together  more  firmly,  and  it  requires  more  strength  to  wedge  them 
apart.  Chips  do  not  fly  off  as  easily.  The  only  explanation  which 
can  be  suggested  for  this  peculiar  behavior  of  the  diseased  wood  is 
that  in  the  t;  blue"  wood  we  have  an  enormous  number  of  filaments,  all 
extending  radially  through  the  wood.  These  filaments  occur  in 
bunches,  much  interwoven,  scattered  at  regular  intervals  through  the 
wood.  It  is  estimated  that  at  a  point  about  1  foot  in  from  the  bark 
there  are  about  39,000,000  medullary  rays  per  square  meter  of  tangen- 
tial surface,  or  about  3,700,000  per  square  foot.  Even  if  the  tensile 
strength  of  one  hypha  is  not  very  great,  when  it  comes  to  4,000,000 
bundles  these  may  have  some  effect  in  holding  masses  of  wood  fiber 
together  (see  Plate  VIII).  This  view  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
it  seems  easier  to  split  the  "blue"  wood  along  radial  lines  than  on 
tangential  lines.  In  making  ties  the  tangential  cut  is  used  almost 
entirely,  and  it  is  possible  that  these  hyphal  bundles  are  responsible 
for  the  toughness.  When  split  tangentially  and  viewed  edgewise,  one 
can  see  some  of  these  hyphal  bundles  projecting  from  the  medullary 
rays,  as  if  they  had  been  pulled  out  and  stretched  before  being  torn. 

RELATION  OF  THE  "BLUE"  FUNGUS  INFECTION  TO  THE  BEETLE  HOLES. 

As  has  been  previously  stated,  the  first  evidences  of  the  presence  6f 
the  "blue"  fungus  are  seen  some  weeks  after  the  beetles  have  bored 
into  the  cambium  layer.  The  first  signs  of  blue  color  in  the  wood 
might  be  expected  just  under  a  hole  in  the  bark  or  near  such  a  hole, 
or  under  the  tube  excavated  in  the  bark  extending  from  such  a  hole. 
This,  however,  is  not  always  the  case;  in  fact,  is  rarely  the  case.  The 
small  triangular  patches  of  color  may  appear  anywhere  within  the  area 


THE  '"BLUE"  FUNGUS.  21 

attacked  by  the  beetles.  Why  this  should  be  so  it  is  difficult  to  explain 
satisfactorily.  The  spores  must  enter  the  region  between  the  wood 
and  the  bark  through  the  beetle  holes  and  burrows,  for  there  is  no 
other  way  for  them  to  get  through  the  bark.  Cracks  in  the  bark  are 
practically  entirely  wanting  in  the  living  trees.  The  only  explanation 
possible  is  that  the  h}Tphae  start  their  growth  in  the  bark  and  cambium 
layer,  the  parts  richest  in  food  materials,  and  then  grow  inward  at  one 
or  more  points  independent  of  the  beetle  holes. 

As  soon  as  the  living  bark  and  wood  die,  a  wood-boring  beetle  enters 
the  wood  and  makes  numerous  small  holes  all  through  the  sapwood 
(see  PL  IX).  It  enters  felled  trees  within  a  few  days  after  the  tree  is 
cut.  The  holes  which  it  makes  extend  radially  into  the  trunk,  some- 
times with  great  directness,  then  again  obliquely.  The  beetles  bore 
with  great  rapidity,  so  that  they  may  have  reached  the  heartwood  in 
the  course  of  a  few  months.  These  holes  form  very  convenient  chan- 
nels for  the  entrance  of  the  hyphse  of  the  "blue"  fungus,  and  the^ 
take  advantage  of  their  opportunities.  Before  they  appear  in  the 
wood  cells  surrounding  the  holes  made  by  the  wood-boring  beetle, 
one  finds  great  masses  of  another  fungus  in  the  open  ends  of  the  wood 
cells  bordering  the  hole.  This  is  the  so-called  " ambrosia"  fungus,0 
which  the  beetles  carry  into  the  holes  with  them,  and  upon  the  spores 
of  which  they  feed.  The  hyphse  of  this  fungus  are  colorless  and 
thick  walled.  They  extend  into  the  wood  cells  away  from  the  holes 
only  a  short  distance,  but  near  the  holes  they  grow  into  dense  mats, 
which  practically  plug  the  lumen  of  the  wood  fibers  toward  the  beetle 
hole.  The  bunches  of  sporophores  with  the  round  pores  project  into 
the  beetle  hole  from  these  mats. 

The  hyphse  of  Ceratostomella  can  be  distinguished  readily  from  those 
of  the  " ambrosia"  fungus.  They  are  thin  walled,  full  of  vacuoles,  and 
turn  brown  very  soon.  There  seems  to  be  no  relation  between  the 
two,  although  such  a  relation  is  not  impossible.  The  development  of 
the  "ambrosia"  fungus  is  now  being  investigated,  and  it  is  hoped  that 
this  study  will  throw  more  light  on  any  possible  relation. 

This  class  of  beetle  probably  carries  the  spores  of  Ceratostomella 
with  it  into  the  holes  it  makes,  much  as  it  carries  the  "ambrosia  "  spores. 
This  seems  probable  from  the  fact  that  the  "  blue  "  fungus  seems  to  start 
at  various  points  along  a  beetle  hole ;  in  other  words,  it  does  not  grow 
down  into  the  hole  from  the  outside.  Sections  made  at  right  angles  to 
the  hole  show  that  the  fungus  starts  to  grow  on  all  sides  of  the  hole, 
and  that  it  makes  most  rapid  headway  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  long 
axes  of  the  wood  fibers  (PI.  IX).  When  once  the  hyphse  have  reached 
the  medullary  rays  from  the  wood  fibers,  progress  in  all  directions 

«  Hubbard,  H.  G.  The  Ambrosia  Beetles  of  the  United  States.  Bull.  7,  n.  s., 
Division  of  Entomology,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1897,  pp.  9-30. 


THE    *4  BLUING       AND    THE    44KED    EOT       OF    THE    PINE. 

becomes  equally  rapid.  The  blue  color  appears  around  the  beetle 
holes  soon  after  the  entrance  of  the  "blue"  fungus.  Usually  it  forms 
two  rings  extending  from  the  hole  along  the  wood  fibers.  Various 
stages  of  this  first  appearance  of  the  color  are  shown  on  PI.  IX.  The 
spread  of  the  "blue"  fungus  within  the  wood,  through  the  agency  of 
wood-boring  beetles,  is  an  occurrence  frequently  found  in  many  conif- 
erous woods.  The  central  figure  at  the  bottom  of  PI.  IX  is  from  a 
photograph  of  a  log  of  western  hemlock  found  in  the  Olympic  Forest 
Reserve,  in  Washington,  which  shows  an  even  more  striking  case  of 
the  spread  of  Ceratostomella  from  holes  made  by  Gnathotricus  ocd- 
dentalis  Hopkins  MS.  This  particular  piece  of  wood  was  cut  from 
a  fallen  trunk,  about  6  inches  in  from  the  bark. 

FRUITING   ORGANS   OF   THE    ;4BLUE"   FUNGUS. 

The  "blue"  fungus  forms  its  fruiting  bodies  on  the  surface  of  the 
wood  in  which  it  is  growing.  Air  seems  to  be  necessary  for  the  for- 
mation of  the  fruiting  bodies.  A  good  deal  of  moisture  in  the  sur- 
rounding air  is  necessary  likewise.  No  fruiting  organs  are  formed  in 
dry  air.  In  the  forest  they  occur  in  the  cracks  formed  when  a  blued 
trunk  is  broken  off,  on  broken  branches,  and  at  such  other  points  as 
are  exposed  to  the  air.  So  far  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  find  the 
perithecia  of  Ceratostomella  on  the  surface  of  standing  trunks  under 
the  bark,  although  a  diligent  search  has  been  made  for  them  at  all 
seasons  for  two  years.  When,  several  months  after  the  beetle  attack, 
the  bark  becomes  loose,  so  that  it  separates  from  the  wood,  a  space 
is  left  between  the  bark  and  wood.  In  this  space  numerous  fungi 
develop  in  quantities,  among  others  a  species  of  Altemaria  which  lines 
the  pupal  chambers  of  the  Dendroctonus,  and  a  species  of  Verticillium. 
The  whole  atmosphere  of  this  region  is  surcharged  with  moisture,  and 
yet  the  ' '  blue "  fungus  does  not  fructify  here,  for  there  is  probably 
not  enough  air. 

The  black  perithecia  of  the  "blue"  fungus,  Ceratostomella  pilif era 
(Fr.)  Winter,  are  familiar  objects  on  blued  boards  or  shingles,  where 
they  occur  in  thousands  side  by  side.  The  perithecia  are  formed 
within  a  few  hours  when  the  conditions  are  favorable.  At  various 
points  on  the  surface  of  the  wood,  in  some  instances  out  of  every 
medullary  ray,  masses  of  hyphas  grow  out  forming  a  dense  mass  which 
gradually  develops  into  an  egg-shaped  body  (PL  VII,  4).  The  surface 
of  the  young  perithecium  shows  irregular  polygonal  markings,  which 
gradually  become  indistinct  as  the  perithecium  turns  jet  black  almost 
to  its  tip.  At  the  tip  of  the  young  perithecium  a  number  of  hyphse 
grow  out  parallel  with  one  another  (PI.  VII,  4)  in  a  direction  perpen- 
dicular to  the  substratum.  They  remain  colorless  at  the  tip.  These 
hyphge  grow  in  length  with  remarkable  rapidity  and  form  a  long 


THE   "BLUE"  FUNGUS.  23 

bristle-like  neck  several  times  as  long-  as  the  diameter  of  the  perithe- 
cium  (PL  VII,  6).  This  neck  becomes  very  brittle  as  soon  as  the  peri- 
thecium  is  mature,  and  breaks  off  at  the  slightest  jar  or  touch.  The 
tips  of  the  hyphre  composing-  the  neck  remain  joined  at  the  top  until 
the  spores  are  discharged;  they  then  separate  and  form  a  sort  of  cup- 
shaped  support  for  the  spore  mass  (PL  VII,  9).  The  body  of  the  peri- 
thecium  when  mature  is  about  180^  in  diameter  and  160/*  high,  and  is 
covered  with  scattering  brown  hyphae.  The  neck  averages  about  1,050,/u 
in  length  and  20/*  in  thickness. 

The  spores  of  Ceratostomella  are  elongated  and  somewhat  curved 
(PL  VII,  8).  They  are  very  small,  and  the  asci  in  which  they  are 
borne  are  almost  round  or  egg-shaped  (PL  VII,  7)  and  exceedingly 
evanescent,  so  much  so  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  them.  Hun- 
dreds of  perithecia  in  all  stages  may  be  examined  without  showing 
a  sign  of  asci.  When  the  spores  are  mature,  they  are  discharged 
through  the  neck,  either  in  the  form  of  a  large  drop  (PL  VII,  5,  s), 
or  in  a  long,  worm-like  mass.  The  spores  are  held  together  by  a 
mucilaginous  material,  which  will  not  mix  with  water.  It  is  suggested 
that  this  serves  admirably  to  spread  the  spores  through  the  agency  of 
crawling  insects  and  worms,  both  common  on  wood  where  the  peri- 
thecia are  likely  to  be  found.  The  spores  germinate  in  water  after  a 
few  hours,  sending  out  a  short  hyaline  germ  tube,  which  branches 
very  soon  after  its  appearance.  The  discharge  of  the  spores  takes 
place  when  a  certain  amount  of  moisture  has  accumulated  within  the 
perithecium.  A  rain  storm  often  brings  about  a  worm-like  discharge 
from  ripening  perithecia.  In  cultures  a  globular  discharge  takes  place, 
probably  because  of  the  more  equitable  distribution  of  water.  The 
spores  measure  5.5/<  by  2.5/*,  average. 

GROWTH   IN   ARTIFICIAL   MEDIA." 

The  "blue"  fungus  grows  quite  readily  in  artificial  media.  In  pine 
agar  the  mycelium  develops  rapidly;  less  so  in  ordinary  agar  or  gela- 
tin. Cultures  are  most  readily  obtainable  in  pure  condition  by  inoc- 
ulating pine  agar  tubes  with  pieces  of  blued  wood  removed  (with  care 
so  as  keep  them  sterile)  from  the  inner  portion  of  a  blued  log.  The 
hyphie  grow  out  from  the  blued  pieces  and  soon  grow  through  the 
agar  to  the  surface.  On  nearly  all  cultures  of  this  character  peri- 
thecia developed  on  the  surface  of  the  agar  within  a  week.  The  asco- 
spores  germinate  in  a  few  hours,  and  at  the  end  of  thirty-six  to  forty- 
eight  hours  a  colorless  mycelium  bearing  large  numbers  of  conidiahas 
developed.  At  first  these  conidia  were  regarded  as  contaminations, 
but  their  repeated  appearance  in  cultures  made  from  pure  cultures  of  the 

«  The  cultural  work  was  carried  on  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  George  G.  Hedgcock, 
assistant  in  pathology. 


24      THE   "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

ascospores  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  their  being- a  stage  of  the  "blue" 
fungus.  Cultures  made  from  these  conidia  developed  a  mycelium  on 
which  both  conidia  and  perithecia  appeared.  Work  with  these  conidia 
is  .-till  in  progress  and  a  report  upon  the  results  accomplished  is  to  be 
published  in  full  at  a  later  date. 

In  four  to  five  days  in  good  growing  cultures  on  rich  pine  agar  or  on 
sterile  pine  blocks  the  older  threads  of  the  colorless  mycelium  begin 
to  turn  brown,  and  at  the  end  of  seven  to  nine  days  young  perithecia 
begin  to  form.  These  are  at  first  hyaline  and  change  rapidly  from 
brown  to  black.  They  mature  quickly,  and  at  the  end  of  from  twelve 
to  eighteen  days  some  will  be  found  ejecting  the  ascospores.  In  twenty- 
one  days  nearly  all  perithecia  in  a  culture  will  be  mature. 

DISSEMINATION    OF   THE    SPORES. 

The  sudden  appearance  of  the  "blue''  fungus  on  lumber  piles  and 
over  large  areas  at  once,  and  its  simultaneous  appearance  within  the 
trunks  of  the  pine  trees  seem  to  point  to  the  distribution  of  the  spores 
of  the  fungus  b\r  the  wind.  It  was  thought  that  the  bark  beetles  might 
be  instrumental  in  carrying  the  spores  into  their  holes.  This  the}7 
might  do  by  having  the  spores  adhering  to  their  bodies  or  by  feeding 
on  the  spores  and  depositing  these  in  their  holes.  To  test  these  hypoth- 
eses, beetles  were  placed  in  tubes  of  melted  pine  agar,  thoroughly 
shaken,  and  then  plated.  Quite  a  number  of  beetles  were  dissected 
and  cultures  were  made,  using  their  alimentary  canals,  as  well  as  some 
of  their  feces,  as  infecting  material.  In  none  of  these  cultures  did  any 
"blue"  fungus  appear.  A  very  characteristic  bacterium  was  obtained 
from  the  alimentary  tracts,  but  no  Ceratostomella.  A  number  of  live 
beetles  (Dendroctonw*)  were  allowed  to  walk  about  on  pine  agar  plates, 
but  no  "blue"  fungus  developed.  These  trials  are  by  no  means  to  be 
regarded  as  conclusive,  for  they  were  not  exhaustive.  They  are  to 
be  repeated  on  a  larger  scale  this  winter  and  in  the  summer  when 
the  beetles  emerge.  The  number  of  perithecia  developing  on  dead 
sticks  and  in  cracks  is  sufficient  to  account  for  an}T  infection  which 
takes  place  in  the  Black  Hills  forest.  This  applies  with  equal  force 
to  all  regions  where  the  "blue"  fungus  occurs. 

The  months  of  May,  June,  July,  and  August  are  the  ones  during 
which  the  most  rapid  development  of  this  fungus  takes  place. 

THE    BLUE   COLOR. 

Wood  in  which  the  mycelium  of  Ilelotium  seruginosum  (and  prob- 
ably of  other  "green"  fungi)  grows  turns  green  very  soon  after  the 
fungus  gets  into  the  wood.  As  shown  by  Vuillemin  and  others,  the 
green  color  is  due  to  a  substance  formed  as  a  product  of  metabolism 
of  the  fungus,  which  is  deposited  in  the  form  of  regular  granules  in 


THE    "BLUE77    FUNGUS.  25 

the  hyphre  and  fruiting  bodies  of  the  fungus.  The  green  matter, 
xjTlindeine,  is  confined  to  the  fungus  threads  and- in  no  wa\T  stains  the 
wood  fibers.  Vuillemin  states  expressly  (p.  1-M)  that  "there  is  no 
green  decay  or  green  staining  of  the  wood.  The  wood  appears  green 
when  the  colored  thallus  of  Helot'mm  seruginosum  or  of  analogous 
fungi  is  found  in  its  elements."  With  the  highest  powers  of  the 
microscope  he  was  unable  to  find  any  coloration  of  the  walls  of  the 
wood.  The  green  color  is  therefore  due  to  the  presence  en  masse  of 
green -colored  threads. 

Similar  instances  of  color  due  to  the  presence  of  colored  mycelium 
are  found  on  pine  and  spruce  wood,  where  brown  and  black  lines  are 
formed  by  masses  of  dark  hyphse  bunched  at  particular  points  in  the 
wood  cells.  The  familiar  zigzag  and  fantastic  line's  often  found  in 
wood  of  the  tulip  tree  and  in  birch  and  maple  are  due  to  similar  fungus 
threads.  In  none  of  these  cases  are  the  wood  fibers  themselves  colored. 

So  far  as  known  to  the  writer,  no  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to 
explain  the  nature  of  the  blue  color  of  coniferous  woods.  The  color 
is  a  difficult  one  to  define.  A  number  of  the  writer's  artist  friends 
who  were  called  into  consultation  pronounced  it  a  blue  gray,  approach- 
ing Payne's  gray.  Freshly  cut  wood  looks  decidedly  blue,  but  as  the 
wood  dries  the  color  fades  somewhat  and  dry  wood  is  mouse  gray. 
The  color  is  by  no  means  regular;  here  and  there  some  of  the  yellow 
of  the  healthy  wood  shines  through.  The  drawing  shown  on  PI.  I  is 
perhaps  a  little  too  blue.  PI.  V  is  closer  to  the  real  color.  Certain 
portions  of  the  blued  wood  look  greenish  when  viewed  obliquely. 

There  are  two  possible  explanations  as  to  the  cause  of  the  so-called 
blue  color:  (1)  The  wood  may  appear  colored  because  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  colored  fungus  threads  in  the  wood.  The  mass  effect  of 
such  colored  threads  might  make  the  wood  appear  colored.  (2)  The 
wood  might  be  colored  by  a  pigment  or  stain  formed  either  by  the 
fungus  or  as  a  result  of  the  fungus  growth  in  the  wood,  and  this 
pigment  might  stain  the  walls  of  the  wood  fibers. 

The  first  explanation  holds  good  for  the  "green"  wood.  Here  a 
pigment  is  formed  in  the  hyphse  and  fruiting  bodies  of  the  fungus,  and 
it  is  because  of  the  presence  of  the  green-colored  bodies  in  the  fungus 
threads,  according  to  Vuillemin,  that  the  entire  wood  looks  green. 
Careful  examinations  made  of  the  "blue"  wood  by  persons  trained  to 
observe  colors,  called  into  consultation  by  the  writer,  have  led  to  some- 
what conflicting  results,  and  it  is  therefore  thought  inadvisable  in  the 
present  stage  of  the  investigation  to  enter  on  a  lengthy  discussion  of 
the  color  subject.  A  number  of  facts  may  be  stated,  however.  Exam- 
inations of  the  wood  fibers  of  sound  and  "blue"  wood  showed  that  it 
was  possible  in  most  instances  to  distinguish  between  the  sound  and 
the  "blue"  wood.  The  walls  of  the  sound  wood  look  somewhat 
darker  (with  a  suggestion  of  purple)  than  the  blued  fiber.  This  method 


2G      THE  " BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

of  examination,  with  high  magnification,  is  a  rather  uncertain  one, 
however,  for  the  refraction  caused  by  the  containing  liquids,  which 
are  purplish,  and  of  light  falling  from  a  blue  sk}T,  is  apt  to  show  very 
faint  traces  of  color  which  do  not  belong  to  the  wood.  It  may  be 
stated  definitely  that  the  fibers  of  the  "  blue"  wood  show  no  indication 
whatever  of  any  color  element  seen  in  the  wood  en  masse. 

The  hyphre  constitute  the  only  color  element  present  in  the  "blue" 
wood  which  could  not  be  detected  in  the  sound  wood.  These  are 
present  in  the  medullary  rays  and  adjacent  cells,  as  described  above. 
These  hyph»  are  pale  reddish-brown,  a  color  which  may  be  obtained 
by  taking  a  pale  tinge  of  warm  sepia.  This  color  is  very  distinct  and 
stands  out  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  surrounding  yellow  wood  fibers. 
(See  PI.  VIII,  showing  the  contrast.)  How  these  brown  hyphae  could 
make  a  blue  gray  or  mouse  gray  it  is  difficult  to  understand,  for  no 
density  of  such  a  brown,  even  in  combination  with  straw  yellow  (of 
the  wood  fiber),  could  possibly  produce  blue  gray.  It  would  there- 
fore seem  probable,  or  at  least  possible,  that  there  is  some  pigment 
with  a  blue  element  in  the  "blue"  wood  which  is  so  faint  that  its 
detection  in  thin  microscopic  sections  becomes  almost  impossible. 

All  efforts  to  extract  any  color  of  a  blue  nature  from  the  wood  have 
so  far  failed.  Extracts  of  blued  wood  with  ether,  alcohol,  benzol, 
chloroform,  alkalis,  and  acids  gave  evidence  that  changes  of  some 
sort  had  taken  place  in  the  wood  fiber,  for  the  extracts  of  sound  and 
"  blue"  wood  differed  materially  in  nearly  every  instance.  No  signs 
of  any  blue  or  blue-gray  color  were  obtained. 

It  seems  necessary,  therefore,  to  leave  this  matter  for  further  inves- 
tigations, which  are  now  in  progress. 

SUMMARY. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  a  peculiar  disease  of  the  dying  wood  of 
the  bull  pine  has  been  described.  The  wood  turns  blue  in  August  and 
September,  after  the  trees  are  attacked  by  the  beetles.  The  blue  color 
starts  near  the  base  of  the  tree  and  gradually  spreads  upward  until 
the  entire  sapwood  is  blue.  The  "blue"  wood  is  somewhat  tougher 
than  the  healthy  wood  and  has  been  shown  to  be  practically  as  strong 
as  the  healthy  wood. 

DECAY  OF  THE   "BLUE"  WOOD. 

The  changes  which  the  "blue"  fungus  brings  about  in  the  wood  of 
the  western  yellow  pine  can  hardly  be  called  decay.  It  is  true  that 
the  medullary  rays  are  destroyed  in  part  and  that  the  walls  of  many 
wood  fibers  are  punctured,  but  as  a  whole  the  wood  is  sound  in  the 
ordinary  acceptance  of  that  term.  It  is  not  rotten,  or  doty,  or  decayed. 
The  "blue"  fungus  attacks  cell  contents  and  not  the  cell  walls. 


DECAY    OF    THE    "  BLUE   7    WOOD.  27 

After  the  wood  has  been  dead  for  some  time  certain  changes  begin, 
which  in  the  end  result  in  the  entire  decay  of  the  wood.  The  dead 
wood  may  or  may  not  be  blue,  for  the  processes  by  which  the  wood 
changes  to  decayed  wood  are  the  same  for  wood  which  is  entirely 
healthy  and  for  the  "blue"  wood. 

THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  WESTERN  YELLOW  PINE. 

The  "red  rot "  of  the  western  yellow  pine  usually  starts  in  the  tops  of 
the  "black-top"  trees,  i.  e. ,  trees  which  have  been  dead  for  two  or  more 
years.  At  one  or  more  points,  usually  on  the  north  or  east  side  of  a  tree, 
one  will  find  that  the  wood  immediately  under  the  bark  starts  to  rot. 
This  rot  starts  at  the  bark  and  gradually  extends  inward  (PI.  X,  fig.  1). 
The  wood  when  it  shows  the  first  signs  of  this  decay  is  wet  and  soggy 
and  rapidly  becomes  brittle,  so  that  it  crumbles  into  small  pieces  when 
rubbed.  A  plane  will  no  longer  make  a  smooth  surface  (PI.  X,  figs.  1 
and  2),  for  the  knife  tears  out  small  pieces  of  the  wood  fiber.  The 
color  of  the  wood  changes  from  blue  to  red  yellow.  When  the  decay 
has  gone  on  for  some  time,  bands  and  sheets  of  a  white  felty  substance 
are  found  filling  certain  cracks  which  result  because  of  shrinkage  in 
the  wood  mass  (PI.  X,  fig.  2).  These  white  sheets  consist  of  masses  of 
fungus  threads  densely  interwoven.  The  destruction  of  the  wood  con- 
tinues until  the  heartwood  is  reached,  and  as  this  is  exceedingly  small 
in  the  tops  of  these  trees  one  will  find  that  after  some  time  almost 
the  entire  wood  mass  has  changed  to  a  brown,  brittle,  resistless  mass 
(PL  XI).  The  completely  rotted  wood  crumbles  into  a  fine  powder 
when  crushed  between  the  fingers.  When  wet  it  is  of  a  cheesy  con- 
sistency. When  the  water  has  evaporated  from  such  wood  it  is  like 
so  much  brown  charcoal. 


The  "red  rot"  of  the  dead  timber  is  caused  by  one  of  the  higher 
fungi  which  grows  in  the  wood,  and  by  so  doing  brings  about  the  decay 
of  the  wood.  The  spores  of  this  fungus  fly  about  in  the  forest  and 
some  of  them  lodge  in  bark  crevices  of  the  dying  trees.  The  numerous 
beetle  holes  afford  every  opportunity  for  entrance  to  the  wood,  and  it 
is  therefore  not  surprising  to  find  that  the  majority  of  the  "black-top" 
trees  become  infected  sooner  or  later  with  the  spores  of  this  fungus. 
The  spores  germinate  and  hyphie  grow  into  the  dead  cambium  and  the 
wood,  where  they  attack  such  organic  matter  as  has  been  left  by  the 
"blue"  fungus.  They  go  farther,  however,  and  attack  the  cell  walls 
of  the  wood  fibers,  from  which  they  extract  the  cellulose.  As  a 
result  of  this,  the  wood  fibers  shrink  in  volume  and  crack  in  regular 
lines  extending  obliquely  across  the  cell  walls.  As  the  solution  of  the 


28      THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  ''RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

cellulo.se  goes  on,  large  numbers  of  fibers  separate  in  a  body  from  the 
adjoining  ones,  often  along  the  lines  of  medullary  rays,  and  the  space- 
so  formed  are  rapidly  tilled  with  fungus  threads,  giving  rise  to  the 
white  sheets  already  spoken  of.  (See  PL  X,  fig.  2.) 

CONDITIONS  FAVORING  THK  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  "RED-ROT."  FUNGUS. 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  which  influences  the  development 
of  the  "red-rot"  fungus,  and  one  which  holds  for  all  fungi,  is  water. 
If  the  trees  in  the  Black  Hills  were  dry,  the  red  rot  would  make  but 
slight  progress.  At  the  time  when  the  attack  takes  place  the  trees  are 
full  of  water,  especially  the  tops,  for  these  have  lived  longer  than  the 
butts  of  the  trees,  and  water  was  pumped  into  them  long  after  the 
lower  parts  of  the  trees  were  dead.  The  top,  therefore,  is  the  most 
favorable  point  for  the  "  red-rot"  fungus,  and  it  is  there  that  it  is 
found  developing  most  rapidly.  From  the  top  the  fungus  may  grow 
down,  so  as  to  affect  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk,  but  as  this  has  been 
drying  continuous!}'  since  the  beetle  attack  one  will  find  that  it  is.  very 
rare  for  those  parts  of  the  trunk  situated  at  points  5  to  30  feet  from  the 
ground  to  be  seriously  injured  by  this  fungus  in  the  first  years  after 
the  death  of  the  trees.  This  is  an  exceeding^  important  considera- 
tion when  the  practical  phase  of  this  subject  is  taken  into  account. 

The  relation  of  the  water  supply  to  the  "  red  rot"  is  illustrated  very 
well  in  the  large  number  of  trees  where  the  bark  has  died  and  peeled 
off  from  one  side  of  the  tree.  On  PL  X,  fig.  2,  a  photograph  of  such 
a  case  is  reproduced.  The  bark  has  fallen  off  on  the  south  and  south- 
west sides  of  the  tree,  but  it  still  is  attached  to  the  opposite  side.  The 
result  of  this  peeling  becomes  evident  very  soon,  for  on  that  side  the 
wood  dried  very  rapidly,  while  on  the  other  side  the  bark  prevented 
such  evaporation.  The  wood  remained  moist,  and  here  the  "red-rot" 
fungus  found  a  footing  and  conditions  favorable  for  its  growth.  The 
result  was  that  in  the  course  of  some  months  the  north  and  northeast 
sides  of  that  trunk  were  completely  deca}Ted,  while  the  opposite  side 
remained  sound.  A  similar  instance  is  shown  in  the  largest  section  on 
PL  VI,  fig.  2;  in  this  case  at  the  base  of  the  tree. 

Where  the  bull  pine  grows  on  hillsides  not  exposed  to  the  sun  or 
wind,  or  where  there  is  much  undergrowth,  one  will  f  requently  find 
the  "red-rot"  fungus  entering  the  trees  at  the  base  before  it  attacks 
the  top.  This  is  likewise  due  to  the  fact  that  the  water  has  not  left  the 
trunk  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  prevent  the  attack. 

FINAL   STAGES   AND    FRUITING    ORGANS. 

When  the  tops  become  rotted  almost  to  the  heart  they  become  so 
weak  that  they  are  broken  off  by  the  first  wind.  In  those  sections  of 


DECAY    OF    THE    "  BLUE "    WOOD.  29 

the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve  where  the  beetle  attack  took  place  some 
four  or  more  years  ago  there  are  thousands  of  dead  trees  standing  with 
their  tops  broken  off  much  like- those  shown  in  Pi.  XII.  In  this  view 
the  tops  can  be  seen  tying  on  the  ground.  PL  XIII,  fig.  1,  shows  the 
lower  end  of  one  of  these  tops.  One  will  note  how  sharp  it  has  broken 
off — almost  straight  across.  One  of  the  sheets  of  mycelium  has  curled 
over  at  the  extreme  right  of  the  figure.  The  cross  sections  of  such  a 
top  (reproduced  on  PL  XI,  figs.  1  and  2)  show  how  completely  the  wood 
has  been  destroyed  and  that  there  is  small  chance  for  such  a  top  remain- 
ing on  the  tree  very  long. 

Where  the  u  red-rot"  fungus  attacks  the  tree  at  its  base  it  brings 
about  the  decay  of  the  larger  roots  underground,  and  also  of  the  sap- 
wood  of  the  trunk  close  to  the  ground  (PL  VI,  fig.  2,  large  section, 
and  PL  XI,  fig.  3).  After  a  time  the  roots  become  weakened  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  are  no  longer  able  to  keep  the  trunk  in  an  upright 
position,  and  the  result  is  that  the  tree  is  blown  over.  Such  a  fallen 
tree  is  then  attacked  rapidly  at  all  points  by  the  "red-rot"  fungus, 
and  in  a  few  years  nothing  is  left  of  it  but  a  pile  of  rotted  wood. 

When  the  wood  has  been  completely  destroyed  the  fruiting  organs 
of  the  "  red-rot"  fungus  begin  to  form.  Some  of  the  hyphse  grow  out 
through  the  bark  and  form  a  flesh-colored  knob  (PL  XI,  fig.  1),  which 
rapidly  increases  in  size  and  turns  reddish  in  color.  This  knob  grad- 
ually widens  horizontally,  forming  a  shelf,  and  on  the  lower  side  of 
this  shelf  numerous  pores  appear.  One  of  these  bodies  is  seen  grow- 
ing out  from  the  fallen  top  shown  on  PL  XIII,  fig.  1,  a  little  below 
and  to  the  right  of  the  small  branch  extending  out  toward  the  front 
of  the  picture.  (See  also  PL  XI,  fig.  2,  and  PL  XIII,  fig.  2.)  After  a 
year  a  mature  fruiting  body  or  sporophore  (commonly  called  a  punk, 
mushroom,  or  toadstool)  has  developed,  from  which  spores  are  dis- 
charged at  intervals.  These  spores  are  formed  in  the  small  tubes 
found  on  the  lower  side  of  the  sporophore,  and  on  a  quiet  night  one 
can  see  them  coming  from  the  sporophore  in  white  clouds  as  they  are 
being  discharged  in  countless  thousands.  The  spores  are  so  light  that 
they  are  carried  many  miles  by  the  winds  and  lodge  on  every  stick  and 
tree  in  the  vicinity. 

The  sporophores  of  this  fungus  may  grow  for  many  years.  At  dif- 
ferent periods,  the  length  of  which  is  not  yet  definitely  known,  they 
add  a  ring  on  the  outside  and  thereby  increase  in  size.  The  one  shown 
attached  to  the  section  on  PL  XI,  fig.  2,  is  probably  2  years  old,  while 
the  one  at  the  base  of  the  tree  on  PL  XIII  is  probably  several  years 
old.  The  sporophores  may  occur  singly  or  in  groups  of  two  or  three 
together.  When  a  top  falls  so  as  to  lie  close  to  the  ground  where  it 
is  likely  to  be  kept  wet,  the  sporophores  will  develop  every  few  inches, 
so  that  there  may  be  as  many  as  20  or  30  on  a  log  10  feet  in  length.  On 


30      THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  EOT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

standing  trees  they  occur  only  at  the  base  of  the  trees  (PL  X11I). 
Here  they  grow  close  to  the  ground  and  oftentimes  their  lower  surfaces 
are  actually  in  the  ground.  Grass,  pine  needles,  and  stones  almost  hide 
the  entire  sporophore. 

Older  punks  are  rough  on  top  and  appear  to  be  covered  with  some 
waxy  substance  which  has  hardened  and  cracked.  This  substance, 
when  scraped,  resembles  a  hard  resin.  It  is  brittle,  and  is  readily 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  xylol.  It  has  a  sticky  appearance,  and  when 
freshly  formed  on  the  younger  parts  its  bright  red  color  forms  a  distin- 
guishing character  not  readily  overlooked.  The  younger  parts  are 
sometimes  flesh  color,  then  again  reddish  yellow  in  color,  and  as  they 
grow  older  they  turn  more  decidedly  red.  The  surface  is  at  first 
smooth  and  waxy,  and  as  the  sporophore  grows  older  it  becomes  very 
much  wrinkled.  The  outer  waxy  covering  cracks  (PI.  XIII,  fig.  2), 
and  the  whole  surface  then  seems  to  be  coated  with  a  dull  gray,  lime- 
like  substance,  which  is  exceedingly  characteristic. 

The  red-rot  fungus  belongs  to  the  Hymenomycetes,  genus  Polyporus 
(Fomes),  and  differs  decidedly  from  other  species  of  this  genus.  The 
species  most  closely  related  to  it  are  Polyporus  pinicola  and  Polypwm 
marginatus.  Its  whole  appearance,  its  color,  hard  resinous  covering, 
and  very  rough  surface  distinguish  it  from  these  species.  It  has  been 
decided  to  consider  it  as  a  new  species — Polyporus  ponder osus,  n.  sp.— 
which  ma}r  be  described  as  follows: 

A  large  Polyporus  of  the  Fomes  type  usually  growing  singly  (PI.  XI,  fig.  2),  some- 
times two  or  three  together  (PI.  XIII,  fig.  2),  broadly  applanate;  about  as  thick  in 
the  back  as  it  is  wide  (PL  VII,  figs.  10  and  11) ;  top,  when  young,  flesh-colored  to 
yellow  red,  becoming  darker  red  with  age;  smooth  when  young,  rapidly  becoming 
rough  and  covered  with  irregular  nodules.  Older  specimens  show  numerous  ridges, 
formed  by  regular  additions  (annual)  on  the  edge  and  below.  Top  covered  after 
the  first  year  with  a  hard,  brittle,  dull,  resinous  substance,  which  cracks  as  it  grows 
old,  and  looks  sandy  or  crystalline.  Lower  surface  smooth,  pores  very  regular, 
almost  round,  extending  out  to  a  line  which  is  about  one-fourth  inch  in  width.  (See 
PI.  VII,  figs.  10  and  11.)  Common  on  dead  trees  and  fallen  logs  of  the  western 
yellow  or  bull  pine  ( Pinus  ponderosa )  in  South  Dakota. 

RATE   OF  GROWTH   OF 

The  question  as  to  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  "  red  rot "  is  one  of  great 
practical  significance.  The  "red  rot"  fungus  is  the  principal  cause 
which  prevents  the  dead  wood  from  lasting  indefinitely.  It  usually 
attacks  the  trees  when  the}r  have  reached  the  "black-top"  stage;  i.  e., 
toward  the  end  of  the  second  year  after  the  beetle  attack,  and  there- 
after. The  larger  number  of  trees  are  probably  free  from  this  rot 
until  the  third  year.  To  make  this  clearer,  one  may  make  a  schedule 
of  the  stages  through  which  the  trees  go,  about  as  follows: 


AMOUNT    OF    DISEASED    TIMBER.  31 

1899,  July. — Live  trees  attacked  by  the  bark-boring  beetles. 

1899,  September. — Wood  of  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk  starting  to  blue. 

1899,  December. — Wood  blue  to  the  heart  below,  and  wood  of  the  top  partially 
blue. 

1900,  May. — "Sorrel-top"  stage;  leaves  turning  yellow;  wood  wholly  blued. 

1900,  October. — "  Red-top"  stage;  leaves  red  and  lower  ones  starting  to  fall  off; 
wood  blue,  but  sound. 

1901,  May. — "Black-top"   stage;  leaves   falling  off  and  fallen    wood  starting  to 
decay;  "red  rot"  in  the  tops. 

1901,  October. — "Black-top"  stage;  leaves  all  fallen;  top  badly  decayed  and  in 
many  instances  broken  off. 

This  calendar  must  be  considered  a  tentative  one,  based  upon  obser- 
vations of  two  years,  although  in  the  main  it  is  probably  correct. 
The  "  red-rot "  part  is  extremely  variable,  and  can  not  be  assigned  to  any 
definite  period.  The  time  when  the  tops  will  begin  to  decay  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  weather  at  any  particular  season,  the  amount  of  rain,  the 
vigor  of  the  tree  and  the  length  of  time  it  takes  the  tree  to  die  com- 
pletely after  the  beetles  have  attacked  it,  the  position  of  the  tree  in 
the  forest,  the  prevailing  winds,  and  probably  other  factors  more  or 
less  related  to  those  mentioned. 

It  is  exceedingly  important  that  this  variability  be  recognized,  for 
its  bearing  on  the  cutting  and  utilization  of  the  dead  timber  is  of  the 
greatest  importance.  There  may  be  ' '  black-top  "  trees  which  will  be 
sound  from  the  ground  to  the  very  top,  and  these  trees  may  have 
stood  in  the  forest  for  years  in  this  condition.  Not  far  awa}r  one  will 
find  others  which  have  barely  reached  the  "black-top"  stage  which  may 
show  signs  of  decay  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ground.  It  is  there- 
fore entirely  impossible  to  lay  down  a  hard  and  fast  rule,  and  to  state 
that  the  " black  tops"  after  a  year  are  all  of  no  value  as  timber. 

The  average  conditions  in  the  Black  Hills  are  certainly  very  favor- 
able for  the  development  of  "red  rot,"  and  one  will  probably  not  be 
very  far  from  the  truth  when  he  assumes  that  after  the  trees  have 
reached  the  ' ;  black-top  "  stage  they  are  liable  to  decay  and  deteriorate 
within  a  comparatively  short  time;  that  time  probably  will  not  exceed 
two  years. 

AMOUNT  OF  DISEASED  TIMBER. 

In  the  foregoing,  but  brief  reference  has  been  made  to  the  actual 
condition  of  the  forests  in  South  Dakota  at  this  time  and  to  the  extent 
of  the  injury  following  the  attack  of  the  bark  beetles.  The  amount  of 
dead  wood,  both  standing  and  fallen,  is  very  large,  and  as  the  beetles 
are  still  at  work,  it  is  steadily  increasing.  It  is,  of  course,  rather  dif- 
ficult to  make  estimates  of  the  exact  amount  without  an  actual  survey 
of  the  whole  region.  A  trip  through  the  worst  region — i.  e. ,  north  of 
Spearfish  River  and  west  of  the  Burlington  Railroad  tracks — was  made 
during  the  past  summer,  in  company  with  several  expert  timbermen, 


32      THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE   "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

for  the  purpose  of  determining  about  how  much  dead  and  dying  tim- 
ber one  could  safely  count  on  removing  this  winter.  Estimates  were 
individual,  and  these  estimates (' agreed  fairly  well  as  to  the  relative 
amounts  of  the  various  grades  of  timber  present.  Taking  these 
e>timatex  a>  a  basis,  it  appears  that  about  half  of  the  timber  in  this 
particular  region  is  now  dead.  This  refers  to  the  standing  timber,  and 
leaves  the  fallen  timber  entirely  out  of  consideration.  This  immense 
amount  of  timber  is  drying  out  rapidly  and  forms  a  tremendous  fire 
danger.  Should  fire  start  in  these  woods,  it  would  sweep  the  dead  as 
well  as  the  living  trees  from  the  hillsides.  The  great  danger  of  leaving 
the  trees  with  the  beetles  in  them,  which  will  be  " sorrel  tops'1  next 
summer,  has  been  pointed  out  by  Hopkins.  Besides  these  two  dangers, 
there  is  still  another  point  worthy  of  attention,  and  that  is  the  loss, 
under  present  conditions,  of  the  value  of  this  wood.  The  following 
considerations  are  made,  keeping  in  mind  both  the  protection  of  the 
living  timber  against  further  insect  and  fire  loss  and  the  possible 
utilization  of  the  vast  amount  of  dead  timber. 

POSSIBLE   DISPOSAL   OF   THE   DEAD   WOOD. 
IN    THE    BLACK    HILLS. 

Timber  from  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve  is  now  being  used  by 
tne  mining  interests  in  the  Hills,  and  to  a  very  small  extent  by  the  rail- 
roads on  their  lines  in  South  Dakota.  The  mining  interests  use  the 
wood  for  mine  props,  lagging,  and  fuel.  They  are  absolutely  depend- 
ent on  the  timber  in  the  Reserve  for  the  lumber  necessary  for  use  in 
mining,  for  their  fuel,  and  for  their  water,  which  is  conserved  because 
of  the  forests  on  the  hillsides.  The  railroads  use  the  wood  for  cross- 
ties  on  the  lines  which  extend  from  Lead  City  and  Deadwood  south  to 
the  State  line.  The  timber  used  for  mine  props,  lagging,  etc.,  by  all 
the  mines  in  the  Black  Hills  is  stated  to  be  about  75,000,000  feet  at  the 
maximum.  The  amount  of  timber  used  for  ties  is  practically  inap- 
preciable, and  at  this  writing  most  of  the  tie  cutting  has  practically 
stopped. 

It  appears  from  this  that  the  amount  of  dead  timber  which  could 
po->ibly  be  used  in  the  Black  Hills  is  not  more  than  75,000,000  feet. 

"The  exact  estimates  were  as  follows: 


Kind  of  timber. 

I.               II. 

in. 

<  i  IV.-M  timber  

Per  cent.    Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

"Sorrel  tops  "  

OR                          Oft 

"Red  tops"  

20  '               I'S 

f  e 

"Black  tops  '  

I'S                   90 

The  third  estimate  was  made  by  Dr.  Hopkins  and  the  writer. 


VALUE    OF    THE    DEAD    WOOD INSPECTION.  33 

IN    THE    REMAINING    PARTS    OF    SOUTH    DAKOTA. 

The  Black  Hills  are  situated  in  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of 
South  Dakota,  and  the  only  railroad  connection  which  they  have  with 
the  surrounding  territory  is  southward  into  Nebraska.  It  is  there- 
fore entirely  impracticable  to  consider  a  possible  use  of  any  of  the 
dead  timber  in  parts  of  South  Dakota  outside  of  the  Black  Hills. 

It  appears  from  the  foregoing  that  only  a  very  small  amount  of  the 
dead  timber  can  be  used  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  that  practically  none 
can  be  taken  to  other  parts  of  South  Dakota.  The  only  practicable 
method  of  disposing  of  this  surplus  amount  would  be  to  ship  it  out  of 
the  State,  but  this  is  not  permissible  under  the  present  forest-reserve 
law,  as  will  be  pointed  out  hereafter. 

VALUE  OF  THE  DEAD  WOOD. 

The  dead  wood  which  ought  to  be  removed  from  the  Black  Hills 
Forest  Reserve  is  of  all  grades  and  values,  and  for  practical  purposes 
it  is  impossible  to  draw  any  lines  grading  the  same  which  will  hold 
good.  It  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  only  wood  which  can  be 
considered  as  worth  anything  at  all  is  wood  which  shows  no  sign  of 
decay  or  rot.  Most  of  the  timber,  in  fact  nearly  all,  will  be  blue.  The 
blue  color,  as  has  been  previously  shown,  ought  not  to  make  much 
difference  as  regards  its  strength,  and  if  properly  treated  with  pre- 
servatives it  is  probable  that  the  "blue"  wood  will  be  serviceable  for 
ties  and  lagging. 

The  wood  which  is  dead  in  the  forest  now  rots  rapidly,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  and  every  day  that  it  is  left  makes  large  amounts  of  it  less 
valuable  than  it  was  before.  At  best  one  may  expect  that  timber  which 
is  killed  by  the  beetles  one  year  will  begin  to  deca}^  after  two  years. 

In  fixing  the  price  of  this  dead  timber  it  should  be  remembered  that 
in  order  to  get  it  out,  lines  of  railroad  would  have  to  be  constructed 
at  a  very  considerable  cost.  Even  with  such  lines  the  cost  of  bringing 
the  dead  timber  from  the  forest  to  points  where  it  could  be  utilized 
would  be  great.  The  expense  of  bringing  timber  from  Montana  and 
Wyoming  to  Nebraska  (such  cost  including  the  first  cost  of  the  timber 
plus  the  transportation)  will  about  equal  the  cost  of  bringing  the  tim- 
ber from  the  Black  Hills  to  Nebraska.  That  the  wood  must  have  some 
value  to  be  worth  going  for  at  all  is  obvious,  but,  as  has  been  pointed 
out,  its  value  will  depend  upon  the  rapidity  with  which  it  is  removed. 

INSPECTION. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  which  will  be  encountered  in  the 
utilization  of  the  dead  timber  will  be  in  connection  with  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  material  used.  There  will  be  vast  quantities  of  the  timber 

16614— No.  36—03 3 


34        THE    "  BLUING7'    AND    THE     "RED    ROT77    OF    THE    PINE. 

which  will  be  hard  and  sound,  but  badly  blued.  Then  again,  if  the 
recommendations  as  to  the  cutting  of  live  trees  which  are  infested 
with  beetles  are  followed  there  will  be  timber  which  will  in  all 
respects  be  like  the  green  timber.  A  tie  cut  from  the  top  of  a  tree  in 
September,  after  the  beetle  attack  in  August,  will  usually  be  perfectly 
healthy,  i.  e.,  it  will  show  no  traces  of  blue  color  or  only  very  slight 
ones. 

All  timber  which  is  entirely  sound,  i,  e.,  not  decayed,  is  fit  for  the 
uses  to  which  it  can  be  put  in  the  Northwest,  either  for  mine  timbers, 
lagging,  ties,  etc.  The  blue  color  is  not  to  be  considered  as  a  sign  of 
decay.  Timber  which  shows  rotten  spots  of  any  size  in  the  sapwdod 
should  not  be  used.  An  idea  of  what  such  decayed  spots  look  like  can 
be  gained  by  studying  the  photographs  reproduced  on  PI.  X,  figs.  1  to 
.3,  and  PI.  XIV,  fig.  1.  Besides  the  defect  caused  by  the  u  red  rot,'-  one 
will  sometimes  find  logs  which  show  decay  in  the  center.  This  is  a 
disease  of  the  living  tree,  and  when  more  than  one  or  two  rings  are 
affected  by  the  disease,  such  logs  should  likewise  be  rejected.  The  tie 
section  shown  on  PI.  XIV,  fig.  2,  is  an  example  of  this  form  of  rot. 

A  careful  and  intelligent  inspector  who  familiarizes  himself  with 
the  causes  of  the  decay  in  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve  ought  to 
have  no  difficulty  in  determining  after  some  practice  which  timber  is 
fit  for  use  and  which  ought  to  be  rejected.  No  amount  of  chemical 
treatment  will,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  make  a  practicalhr  decayed  log 
serviceable. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  considerations  just  referred  to,  the  following 
recommendations  are  made: 

(1)  Removal  of  wood  from  the  forest. — The  dead  timber  should  be 
removed  from  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve  at  once.     It  forms  a 
standing  fire  menace.     The   standing  beetle-infested  trees  serve  to 
spread  the  insect  trouble.     This  dead  timber  should  be  removed  at 
once,  or  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  and  the  living  infested  trees 
should  be  felled  and  peeled  as  recommended  by  Dr.  Hopkins,  for  with 
every  day  the  situation  becomes  more  and  more  difficult  to  handle. 

(2)  Sale  of  wood. — In  order  to  rid  the  forest  of  danger  from  fire, 
from  further  insect  and  fungus  spread — in  other  words,  in  order  to 
protect  the  remaining  living  trees  from  further  destruction — the  dead 
wood  should  be  removed.     The  cost  of  operation  in  removing  the 
dead  timber  is  very  considerable:  (1)  Because  of  the  distance  from 
lines  of  transportation;  (2)  because  of  the  greater  difficulty  in  cutting 
this  wood;  (3)  because  of  the  scattered  localities  in  which  it  is  found; 
(4)  because  of  the  constant  care  and  selection  necessary  to  get  good 
sound  wood.     Therefore,  because  of  this  increased  cost,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  the  dead  and  beetle-infested  timber  be  sold  at  a  nominal 


RECOMMENDATIONS.  35 

price  to  such  as  may  apply  therefor,  this  to  be  done  in  order  to  induce 
persons  to  assist  in  clearing  the  forest  with  all  possible  speed. 

(3)  Removal  from  South  Dakota. — It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the 
great  mass  of  dead  timber  now  in  the  Black  Hills  Forest  Reserve  can 
not  be  used  in  South  Dakota.     It  is  therefore  recommended  (again  as 
a  measure  of  protection  for  the  living  forest)  that  the  forest-reserve 
law  be  so  amended  as  to  permit  the  shipment  of  the  dead  and  beetle- 
infested  timber  from  the  State  of  South  Dakota. 

In  making  such  a  change,  it  ought  to  be  understood  that  shipping 
timber  from  the  State  should  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  industries 
dependent  upon  such  timber  in  the  State  where  the  timber  is  situated. 
The  case  under  consideration  is  an  example  in  point.  The  mining 
interests  of  the  Black  Hills  are  absolutely  dependent  for  their  timber 
supply  on  the  wood  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  if  any  timber  is  removed 
from  the  region  of  the  Black  Hills,  i.  e.,  from  the  State  of  South 
Dakota,  it  should  be  taken  from  regions  in  the  Black  Hills  which  are 
no  Tributary  to  the  important  mining  interests  in  the  Hills.  In  other 
words,  if  any  timber  is  removed  from  the  Black  Hills,  it  should  come 
from  the  region  south  and  west  of  the  Little  Spearnsh  River. 

(4)  Timber  which  should  be  removed. — The  timber  which  should  be 
removed  is  the  dead  and  beetle-infested  timber.     For  the  purposes  of 
inspection  dead  timber  should  be  considered  as  timber  which  comes 
from  trees  whose  leaves  are  no  longer  green — that  is,  the  "sorrel  tops," 
the  "red  tops,"  and  the  "black  tops."     "  Beetle  -infested  timber"  has 
been  specified  by  Dr.  Hopkins. 

This  dead  timber  will  be  "blue  timber,"  and 'much  of  it  is  now 
decayed.  Contractors  should  be  required  to  cut  and  remove  only  such 
timber  as  is  perfectly  sound,  without  any  signs  of  decay. 


PLATES. 


37 


DESCRIPTION    OF   P1.ATES. 

PLATE  I. — Frontispiece.  Cross  section  of  the  trunk  of  a  dying  tree  of  the  western 
yellow  or  bull  pine  (Pinus  ponderosa)  from  the  Black  Hills,  South  Dakota.  This 
tree  was  attacked  by  the  beetles  in  August,  1901.  The  section  was  cut  at  a  point 
6  feet  from  the  ground  during  the  early  part  of  November,  1901.  Note  the  beetle 
holes  in  the  bark;  also  the  yellow  ring  between  heartwood  and  sap  wood. 

PLATE  II. — Dying  trees  of  the  bull  pine.  Fig.  1  shows  several  trees;  at  the  left  two 
live,  green  trees,  a  "sorrel-top"  tree  in  the  center,  and  a  "red-top"  tree  at  the 
right.  Photographed  August  5,  1902.  Fig.  2  shows  several  live,  green  trees  at 
the  left  and  a  "sorrel-top"  tree  toward  the  right.  Note  that  this  tree  is  still 
green  at  the  top.  Photographed  August  5,  1902. 

PLATE  III. — Various  stages  showing  the  gradual  color  change  of  leaves  of  the  bull 
pine  (Pinus ponderosa)  after  they  have  been  attacked  by  the  bark  beetles  (Den- 
droctonus  ponderosx ) .  1 .  Leaves  from  a  healthy  tree.  2.  Leaves  from  a  4 '  sorrel- 
top"  tree.  3  and  4.  Leaves  from  trees  changing  to  the  "red-top"  stage.  When 
the  leaves  have  reached  the  stage  of  4  they  fall  off  and  are  completely  dead. 

PLATE  IV. — Fig.  1.  Group  of  bull  pines  (Pinus  ponderosa)  near  Elrnore,  S.  Dak., 
showing  a  "  red-top  "  tree  in  the  center  and  healthy  trees  on  both  sides.  Fig.  2 
shows  a  group  of  "black-top"  trees  from  which  all  leaves  have  fallen.  This 
photograph  was  made  in  November,  1901,  and  it  is  probable  that  these  trees 
were  attacked  by  the  beetles  in  August,  1899. 

PLATE  V. — Sections  of  trunks  of  the  bull  pine  (Pinus  ponderosa),  showing  the 
"blue"  disease.  Fig.  1  shows  an  early  stage.  This  section  was  cut  in  Novem- 
ber, 45  feet  up  in  the  trunk,  from  a  tree  attacked  by  the  beetles  in  August  of 
the  same  year.  The  tree  is  still  alive  at  this  point.  The  blue  color  has  started 
at  two  separate  points.  Fig.  2.  A  later  stage,  showing  the  blue  color  spread  out 
over  one-half  of  the  section.  Note  the  yellow  ring  at  the  border  of  heartwood 
and  sapwood. 

PLATE  VI. — Fig.  1.  Three  sections  from  a  bull  pine  made  in  November,  1901.  This  tree 
was  probably  attacked  by  the  beetles  the  latter  part  of  July,  1901.  The  sections 
were  made  at  points  5  feet,  16  feet,  and  36  feet,  respectively,  from  the  ground, 
i.  e.,  the  largest  section  was  cut  from  the  butt,  the  second  one  about  half  way  up, 
and  the  third  in  the  top.  The  healthy  wood  photographs  white,  and  all  darker 
shades  represent  blued  wood.  Note  the  beetle  holes  in  the  bark.  Fig.  2. 
Three  sections  from  a  bull  pine  made  in  November,  1901.  This  tree  was  prob- 
ably attacked  by  the  beetles  in  July,  1900.  It  is  a  "  black-top"  tree.  The  sec- 
tions were  made  at  points  4  feet,  26  feet,  and  40  feet  from  the  ground.  All  are 
blue.  The  section  near  the  ground  shows  "  red  rot."  This  happens  frequently 
where  the  bases  of  the  trees  are  shaded  by  long  grasses  and  bushes.  In  most 
trees  the  base  will  be  found  sound.  The  whole  tree  was  dead. 

PLATE  VII.— Mycelium  and  fruiting  bodies  of  the  "blue"  and  "red-rot"  fungi.  1. 
Tangential  section  of  "blue"  wood;  m,  cross  sections  of  hyphae  of  the  blue  fungus 
( Ceratostomella.  pilifera  (Fr.)  Winter),  growing  in  the  medullary  rays;  h,  hyphse 
growing  longitudinally  in  the  wood  fibers.  These  hyphse  are  brown.  2.  Cross 
section  of  "blue"  wood,  showing  longitudinal  section  of  medullary  ray  with 
hyphse  of  the  "  blue"  fungus  (h)  growing  in  the  ray  and  into  adjoining  cells;  the 
38 


DESCRIPTION    OF    PLATES.  39 

ray  cells  have  been  destroyed;  m,  cross  sections  of  hyphse  of  Ceratostomella pilifera. 
3.  Cross  section  of  a  medullary  ray,  with  resin  duct  showing  the  internal  cell 
walls  wholly  dissolved  out.  Masses  of  brown  hyphse,  m,  of  the  ''blue"  fungus 
extend  longitudinally  through  the  ray.  4.  Young  perithecium  of  the  ' '  blue ' '  fun- 
gus ( Ceratostomella  pilifera  (Fr. )  Winter),  grown  on  pine  agar  culture.  5.  Mature 
perithecla  of  the  "  blue"  fungus  ( Ceratostomella  pilifera  (Fr.)  Winter),  grown  on 
pine  agar  culture,  showing  the  spores,  s,  discharging  from  the  top  of  the  beak. 
The  line  at  the  side  equals  0.1  mm.  6.  Two  perithecia  of  the  "  blue  "  fungus 
( Ceratostomella' pilifera  ( Fr. )  Winter)  just  before  the  discharge  of  the  spores.  Peri- 
thecia from  culture  on  pine  wood.  7.  Two  asci  with  spores  of  the  ' '  blue ' '  fungus 
( Ceratostomella  pilifera  (Fr. )  Winter).  8.  Spores  of  the  "  blue  "  fungus  ( Ceratosto- 
mella pilifera  (Fr.)  Winter).  9.  Top  of  beak  of  perithecium  of  Ceratostomella 
pilifera  (Fr. )  Winter,  just  after  the  discharge  of  the  spore  mass.  The  hyphae 
composing  the  tip  of  the  beak  have  spread  out,  forming  a  sort  of  support  for  the 
spore  mass.  10  and  11.  Median  sections  of  sporophores  of  the  "red-rot"  fungus 
( Polyporus  ponderosus,  n.  sp. ) ,  natural  size. 

PLATE  VIII. — Photomicrographs  showing  the  structure  of  "blue"  wood.  Fig.  1.  A 
radial  section,  showing  how  the  hyphse  of  the  "blue"  fungus  grow  in  the  medul- 
lary rays,  being  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  rays.  Magnification,  80  diame- 
ters. Fig.  2.  A  tangential  section,  showing  how  the  hyphse  completely  fill  the 
medullary  rays.  Numerous  small  hyphae  grow  out  into  adjoining  cells  in  a 
tangential  direction.  This  makes  the  wood  cells  in  the  photograph  look  as 
if  they  were  septate.  The  apparent  septa  are  hyphre.  Magnification,  80 
diameters. 

PLATE  IX. — A  number  of  pieces  of  wood  from  the  bull  pine  (Pinus  ponderosa) ,  show- 
ing holes  made  by  wood-boring  beetles.  The  trees  from  which  these  pieces  were 
taken  were  in  most  cases  dead,  either  standing  or  felled.  The  "blue"  fungus 
has  started  to  grow  in  the  wood  cells  bordering  on  these  holes,  and  is  gradually 
spreading  to  other  cells  from  these  holes  as  a  center.  Note  that  these  wood 
pieces  show  both  radial  and  tangential  surfaces.  The  piece  of  wood  in  the 
center  at  the  bottom  of  the  plate  is  western  hemlock. 

PLATE  X. — Sections  of  "black-top"  trees  of  the  bull  pine  (Pinus ponderosa) ,  showing 
early  stages  of  the  "red  rot"  caused  by  Polyporus  ponderosus,  n.  sp.  Fig.  1. 
Section  of  a  dead  tree  35  feet  up  from  the  ground.  This  tree  had  probably  been 
dead  for  eighteen  months  to  two  years.  The  decay  has  just  started  in  at  several 
points  on  the  north  and  northwest  sides  of  the  tree.  Note  that  the  larger  part 
of  the  wood  is  blue.  The  healthy,  unaffected  wood  is  white.  Note  also  the 
beetle  holes  in  the  bark.  Fig.  2.  A  section  from  a  similar  ' '  black-top ' '  tree, 
showing  a  more  advanced  stage  of  decay.  The  whole  section  was  blue.  The 
decay  started  on  the  side  where  the  bark  prevented  the  rapid  evaporation  of 
moisture  from  the  wood  and  had  reached  the  heartwood.  Note  the  radial  and 
tangential  sheets  of  white  mycelium.  Fig.  3.  A  section  from  the  same  tree  from 
which  fig.  2  was  taken,  made  some  15  feet  higher  up.  The  section  is  blue,  but 
shows  few  signs  of  decay.  This  shows  how  the  "red  rot"  usually  attacks  the 
tree  somewhere  below  the  crown. 

PLATE  XI. — Sections  of  "black-top"  trees  of  the  bull  pine,  showing  advanced  stages 
of  decay  caused  by  Polyporus  ponderosus  n.  sp.  Figs.  1  and  2.  These  two  sections 
were  cut  from  a  fallen  top  of  a  "black  top "  such  as  is  shown  in  PI.  XIV,  fig.  1, 
one  near  the  point  where  the  top  broke  off,  the  smaller  one  near  the  top  of  the 
crown.  Both  show  how  completely  the  wood  has  been  destroyed.  This  stage 
was  probably  reached  about  three  years  after  the  beetle  attack.  Fig.  3.  The 
lower  figure  shows  a  section  cut  4  feet  from  the  ground  from  a  standing  "  black- 
top" pine.  On  one  side  a  fruiting  body  of  Polyporus  ponderosus  is  to  be  seen, 


40      THE  "BLUING"  AND  THE  "RED  ROT"  OF  THE  PINE. 

which  is  probably  two  years  old.  The  sapwood  is  wholly  converted  into  a 
brown,  brittle  mass.  Such  a  tree  is  liable  to  be  blown  over  at  any  time. 

PLATE  XII. — A  group  of  "black-top"  trees  of  the  bull  pine  near  Elmore,  S.  Dak., 
showing  how  the  tops  break  off  after  the  trees  have  been  dead  for  some  time. 
Many  of  the  tops  are  visible,  lying  near  the  base  of  the  trees.  A  single  "black 
top"  from  which  the  top  has  not  fallen  is  seen  at  the  left.  The  standing  trunks 
are  decayed  for  several  feet  downward  from  the  point  where  the  top  broke  off. 
The  base  ot  these  trunks  is  generally  sound,  and  contains  enough  timber  to  make 
a  good  cross-tie. 

PLATE  XIII. — Fig.  1.  View  of  a  broken  top,  showing  how  it  has  broken  off  almost 
straight  across.  Near  the  middle  of  the  figure  a  fruiting  body  of  the  "  red-rot " 
fungus  (Polyporus  ponderoms,  n.  sp. )  is  growing  out.  Fig.  2.  Base  of  a  dead  bull 
pine  (Pinus  ponderosa)  near  Elmore,  S.  Dak.,  showing  a  number  of  fruiting 
organs  of  the  "red-rot"  fungus  (Polyporus  ponderosus,  n.  sp.)  growing  out  from 
the  wood.  These  are  the  bodies  variously  known  as  "punks,"  "toadstools," 
"mushrooms,"  or  "frogstools."  The  double  one  to  the  left  is  very  old.  Note 
the  cracked  upper  surface.  A  section  of  the  trunk  made  at  the  point  where 
these  bodies  are  growing  out  would  appear  much  like  PI.  XI,  fig.  3. 

PLATE  XIV. — Sections  of  the  ends  of  two  cross-ties  cut  from  dead  timber,  showing 
defects  which  are  so  serious  that  ties  of  this  kind  should  be  rejected.  Fig.  1. 
Defective  because  of  the  "red  rot."  Fig.  2.  Defective  because  of  a  disease  of  the 
living  timber. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,   U.  S.   Dept.  of  Agriculture. 

: 


PLATE  II. 


,1 


.36,  Bureau  oF  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


Plate 


COLOR  CHANGES  IN  LEAVES  OF  THE  BULI_PINE 


i. Leaves  from  healthy  tree.        2.  Leaves  from  "Sorrel-top"  tree. 
3  and,  4.  Leaves  from  trees  turning  of  the    "Red-top"  $ta-ge. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  IV. 


H 

33 

m 
n  m 

ll 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  oF  Agriculture  . 


Plate  V. 


SECTIONS  OFTRUNKS  OFTHEBULLPINE, SHOWING  EARLYSTAGES  OF"BLUE  DISEASE". 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture  . 


Plate  V. 


Pig.  I. 


SECTIONS  OFTRUNKS  OF  THE  BULL  PINE,  SHOWING  EARLYSTAGES  OF"BLUE  DISEASE" 


Bu,.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  VI. 


FIQ.  1.— SECTIONS  FROM  TREE  DEAD  FIVE  MONTHS. 


FlQ.   2.-SECTIONS  FROM   TREE   DEAD   EIGHTEEN    MONTHS. 

"BLUE"    SECTIONS    FROM    DEAD    TREES. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture 


PLATE  VII. 


MYCELIUM  AND  FRUITING  BODIES  OF  "BLUE"  AND  "RED-ROT"  FUNGI. 

1,  Tangential  section  of  "blue"  wood;  2,  cross  section  of  "blue"  wood:  3,  cross  section  of  a  medullary  ray; 
4,  young  perithecium  of  the  "blue"  fungus  (Ceratottomclla  pit  if  era);  5,  mature  perithecia  of  the  "blue" 
fungus;  6,  two  perithecia  of  the  "blue"  fungus;  7,  two  asci  with  spores  of  the  "blue"  fungus;  8,  spores 
of  the  "blue"  fungus;  9,  top  of  beak  of  perithecium  of  Ceratantnm<'lla  pilifera  just  after  the  discharge  of 
the  spore  mass;  10  and  11,  median  sections  of  sporophores  of  the  "red-rot"  fungus  Poli/porus  ponder- 
osus,  n.  sp.). 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  VIII. 


FIG.  1.— RADIAL  SECTION. 


FIG.  2.— TANGENTIAL  SECTION. 
SECTIONS    OF    "BLUE"    WOOD. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


Plate  IX. 


PIECES  OF  WOOD  FROM  THEBULI.PINE;SH©WING  BLUE  FUNGUS  STARTING  FROM 
HOLES  MADE  BY  A  WOOD-BORING  BEETLE. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  X. 


FIG.  1.— SECTION  TAKEN  35  FEET  FROM  THE  GROUND  FROM  A  DEAD  TREE. 


FIQ.  2.— SECTION  SHOWING  MORE  ADVANCED  STAGE  FIG.  3.— SECTION  FROM  TREE  SHOWN  IN 

OF  DECAY.  FIG.  2,  MADE  15  FEET  HIGHER  UP. 

EARLY  STAGES  OF  "RED  ROT." 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  XI. 


FIGS.  1,  2.— SECTIONS  FROM  THE  TOP  OF  A  FALLEN  TREE. 


FIG.  3.— SECTION  FROM  A  STANDING  PINE,  4  FEET  FROM  THE  GROUND. 

SECTIONS    FROM    "BLACK-TOP"    WESTERN    YELLOW    PINE    TREES, 
SHOWING    ADVANCED    STAGES    OF    DECAY. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  XII. 


GROUP  OF  BROKEN  "BLACK-TOP"  TREES. 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  XIII. 


FIG.  1.— TOP  OF  "BLACK  TOP"  BROKEN  OFF. 


FlG.   2.— POLYPORUS   PONDEROSUS  GROWING  ON    DEAD   PlNE   STUMP 


Bui.  36,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  XIV. 


FIG.  1.— WOOD  AFFECTED  WITH  "RED  HOT.' 


FIG.  2.— DISEASED  WOOD  FROM  LIVING  TREE. 
SECTIONS    OF    REJECTED    CROSS-TIES. 


BULLETINS  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY. 

The  Bureau  of  Plant.  Industry,  which  was  organi/ed  July  1,  1901,  includes  Vege- 
table Pathological*  and  Physiological  Investigations,  Botanical  Investigations  and 
Experiments,  Grass  and  Forage  Plant  Investigations,  Pomological  Investigations, 
and  Gardens-  and  Grounds,  all  of  which  were  formerly  separate  Divisions,  and  also 
Seed  and  Plant  Introduction  and  Distribution,  The  Arlington  Experimental  Farm, 
and  Tea  Investigations  and  Experiments. 

Beginning  with  the  date  of  organization  of  the  Bureau,  the  independent  series  of 
bulletins  of  the  several  Divisions  were  discontinued,  and  all  are  now  published  as 
one  series  of  the  Bureau. 

The  bulletins  issued  in  the  present  series  are: 

No.  1.  The  Relation  of  Lime  and  Magnesia  to  Plant  ( Growth.     1.901. 

2.  Spermatogenesis  and  Fecundation  of  Zamia."    1901. 

3.  Macaroni  Wheats.     1901. 

4.  Range  Improvement  in  Arizona.     1901. 

5.  Seeds  and  Plants  Imported  through  the  Section  of  Seed  and   Plant  Intro- 

duction.    Inventory  No.  9,  Nos.  4351-5500.     1902. 

6.  A  List  of  American  Varieties  of  Peppers.     1902. 

7.  The  Algerian  Durum  Wheats:  A  Classified  List,  with  Descriptions.     1902. 

8.  A  Collection  of  Economic  and  Other  Fungi  Prepared  for  Distribution.     1902. 

9.  The  North  American  Species  of  Spartina.     1902. 

10.  Records  of  Seed  Distribution  and  Cooperative  Experiments  with  Grasses 

and  Forage  Plants.     1902. 

11.  Johnson   Grass:    Report   of  Investigations    Made   During   the    Season    of 

1901.     1902. 

12.  Stock  Ranges  of  Northwestern  California.     1902. 

13.  Experiments  in.  Range  Improvement  in  Central  Texas.     1902. 

14.  The  Decay  of  Timber  and  Methods  of  Preventing  It.     1902. 

15.  Forage  Conditions  on  the  Northern  Border  of  the  Great  Basin.     1902. 

16.  A  Preliminary  Study  of  the  Germination  of  the  Spores  of  Agarieus  Campes- 

tris  and  Other  Basidiomycetous  Fungi.     1902. 

17.  Some  Diseases  of  the  Co wpea.     1902. 

18.  Observations  on  the  Mosaic  Disease  of  Tobacco.     1902. 

19.  Kentucky  Bluegrass  Seed:  Harvesting,  Curing,  and  Cleaning.     1902. 

20.  Manufacture  of  Semolina  and  Macaroni.     1902.  , 

21.  List  of  American  Varieties  of  Vegetables.     1903. 

22.  Injurious  Effects  of  Premature  Pollination.     1902. 

23.  Berseem:  The  Great  Forage  and  Soiling  Crop  of  the  Nile  Valley.     1902. 

24.  The  Manufacture  and  Preservation  of  Unferrnented  Grape  Must.     1902. 

25.  Miscellaneous  Papers.     1902. 

26.  Spanish  Almonds  and  Their  Introduction  into  America.     1902. 

27.  Letters  on  Agriculture  in  the  West  Indies,  Spain,  and  the  Orient.     1902. 

28.  The  Mango  in  Porto  Rico.     1902. 

29.  The  Effect  of  Black  Rot  on  Turnips.     1903. 

30.  Budding  the  Pecan.     1902. 

31.  Cultivated  Forage  Crops  of  the  Northwestern  States.     1902. 

32.  A  Disease  of  the  White  Ash  Caused  by  Polyporus  Fraxinophilus.     1903. 

33.  North  American  Species  of  Leptochloa.     1903. 

34.  Silkworm  Food  Plants.     1903. 

35.  Recent  Foreign  Explorations,  as  Bearing  on  the  Agricultural  Development 

of  the  Southern  States.     1903. 


ivi  a  K.  c  i  :-> 

Syracuse,  N.  V. 
PAT.  JAN  21,  1908 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


